Columbia  5.tettJtr^itp 

THE  LIBRARIES 


THE  EARLY  DAYS 
OF  CHRISTIANITY 


FREDERICK  C.  GRANT 


ABINGDON-COKESBURY  PRESS 

NEW  YORK    •    NASHVILLE 


Copyright,  MCMXXII,  by 
FREDERICK  C.  GRANT 


Printed  'n  the  United  States  of  America 


Pot  the  sake  of  clearness,  the  Biblical  text  used  in  this  volume  has  in  many 
places  been  paraphrased  in  modern  English.  Though  adhering  closely  to  the 
current  versions,  the  original  has  been  consulted  and  a  new  translation  made 
where  obscurities  occur. 


TO  MY 

FIRST  TEACHERS  OF  RELIGION 

FATHER  MOTHER 

AUNT  ISABEL 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chronology  of  the  New  Testament 8 

Foreword 1 1 

CHAPTER 

I.  The  Roman  World 13 

PART  ONE:  THE  EARLY  CHURCH  IN 
PALESTINE 

n.  The  Disciples  at  Jerusalem 25 

III.  The  Day  of  Pentecost 33 

IV.  Peter  and  John  in  the  Temple 42 

V.  The  Growth  of  the  Church 51 

VI.  The  First  Christian  Martyr 60 

VII.  Philip  the  Evangelist 68 

VIII.  Paul  of  Tarsus 7^ 

IX.  Paul's  Conversion 85 

X.  Cornelius  the  Centurion 92 

XI.  Christianity  Reaches  Antioch 100 

PART  TWO:   THE  WORK  OF  PAUL 

XII.  The  Gospel  in  Cyprus  and  Galatia.  .  .  113 

XIII.  Mistaken  for  Gods 121 

XrV.  Foes  Within  the  Fold 129 

XV.  The  Gospel  in  Macedonia 137 

XVI.  Before  the  Areopagus 146 

XVII.  Paul  at  Corinth 156 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  ^^^^ 

XVIII.  Three  Years  at  Ephesus 164 

XrX.  Two  Important  Letters 172 

XX.  In  Jerusalem  Again 181 

XXL  Paul's  Arrest 191 

XXII.  The  Appeal  to  C^sar 200 

XXIII.  Paul  in  Rome 210 

PART  THREE:   THE  CHURCH  AFTER  PAUL 

XXIV.  Christianity  in  the  Days  of  Nero 223 

XXV.  The  Church  in  Palestine 235 

XXVI.  The  Making  of  the  New  Testament.  .  245 

XXVII.  The  Blood  of  the  Martyrs 256 

XXVIII.  Two  Centuries  of  Growth 266 

XXIX.  Church  Worship  and  Membership.  ...  277 
XXX.  The  Fathers  of  the  Early  Church.  . .  289 

XXXI.  The  Last  Persecution 300 

XXXII.  "By  This  Sign  Conquer" 31 1 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


Jaffa  (Joppa)  :  Traditional  Home  of  Simon  the 

Tanner 94 

The  Site  of  Antioch  at  the  Present  Time  .  .  .  104 

Thessalonica  (Modern  Saloniki) 146 

C^sarea:  The  Ruins  of  Saint  Paul's  Prison.  .  198 

The  Last  Prayer 224 

Christ  or  Artemis 260 

Arch  of  Constantine  in  Rome 318 

MAPS 

Expansion  of  Early  Christianity Frontispiece 

(Before  47  a.  d.)  FAcmo 

Relative  Density  of  Population  First  Cen- 
tury A.  D 15 

The  Routes  of  Saint  Paul 114 

The  Expansion  of  Early  Christianity 270 

(First,  Second,  and  Third  Centuries) 


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FOREWORD 

Although  an  independent  work,  the  present  volume 
forms  a  sequel  to  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  already- 
published  in  this  series.  Together  they  provide  an 
elementary  outline  of  the  rise  of  the  Christian  religion, 
from  the  birth,  ministry,  and  passion  of  Jesus  to  the 
triumph  of  Christianity  under  Constantine.  Their 
aim  is  to  enable  the  pupil  to  realize  vividly  the  his- 
torical facts  and  personalities,  and  to  appreciate  the 
chief  factors  in  this  immensely  important  development. 
This  can  only  be  accomplished  if  the  pupil  himself  takes 
serious  interest  in  the  course,  faithfully  prepares  the 
lessons,  and  goes  over  with  notebook  at  his  side  the 
Study  Topics  assigned. 

As  with  the  earlier  volume,  the  principles  involved  in 
teaching  this  course  and  suggested  methods  of  treat- 
ment are  discussed  in  the  Teacher^s  Manual  which  is 
to  accompany  it. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  ROMAN  WORLD 

The  world  in  which  Christianity  arose  was  almost 
entirely  under  the  dominion  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
From  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century  before 
Christ,  as  a  result  of  the  wars  with  Carthage,  the  Roman 
rule  had  been  gradually  extended  beyond  the  borders 
of  Italy  until  the  whole  Mediterranean  coast  was  under 
its  control.  At  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Augustus 
(14  A.  D.)  this  vast  empire,  divided  into  provinces, 
stretched  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  west  to  the 
Euphrates  River,  the  Arabian  Desert,  and  the  shores 
of  the  Red  Sea  on  the  east:  and  from  the  EngHsh 
Channel,  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  Rivers  and  the 
Black  Sea  on  the  north  to  the  Sahara  Desert  and  the 
first  cataract  of  the  Nile  on  the  south.  The  rest  of  the 
known  world  was  made  up  of  the  uncivilized  or  savage 
tribes  living  north  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  the 
nomads  of  the  deserts  south  and  east,  the  fierce  and 
turbulent  Parthians  beyond  the  Euphrates,  the  inde- 
pendent kingdom  of  Armenia,  and  the  remote  and 
little-known  lands  of  Ethiopia,  India,  and  China.  Thus 
the  world  in  which  Christianity  arose — the  known  and 
civilized  world  of  the  west — was  almost  completely 
under  Roman  dominion. 

PHYSICAL  FEATURES  AND  POPULATION 

A  glance  at  the  map  shows  the  empire  divided  through- 
out its  length  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  divided 
throughout  its  breadth  by  both  the  Mediterranean  and 

13 


14    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  lesser  seas,  the  Tyrrhenian,  Ionian,  Adriatic,  and 
iEgean;  by  two  deep  gulfs  on  the  north  coast  of  Africa, 
another  between  Cilicia  and  Syria,  and  the  straits  of 
Gibraltar,  the  Dardanelles,  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and 
the  Bosphorus.  In  consequence,  although  the  Romans 
were  not  naturally  good  sailors,  their  empire  was  a 
"maritime"  one — like  the  modern  "empire"  of  Great 
Britain. 

A  sea  empire. — ^Although  in  extent  about  the  same 
length  and  breadth  as  the  United  States,  and  lying  in 
ahnost  the  same  degrees  of  latitude  (30^  to  50°  north), 
no  vast  expanse  of  fertile  plain  and  prairie,  like  the 
central  part  of  our  country,  was  anywhere  to  be  found 
within  this  empire.  For  north  of  Italy  lay  the  Alps; 
north  of  Greece  and  extending  down  into  the  peninsula 
lay  the  Carpathians  and  the  Balkan  ranges;  the  heart 
of  Asia  Minor  was  a  high,  thinly  populated  table-land; 
Arabia  and  all  of  north  Africa  (except  the  valley  of  the 
Nile  and  a  thin  fringe  of  coastland)  were  desert.  Hence 
this  maritime  empire  was  made  up  chiefly  of  peoples 
who  dwelt  along  the  shores  of  the  great  inland  sea.  All 
the  important  cities  were  either  upon  or  near  its  coast. 

But  if  the  sea  divided,  it  also  united  the  empire,  for 
it  was  the  greatest  highway  of  the  ancient  world.  Voyages 
were  easily  and  quickly  made  in  every  direction.  The 
islands  Sardinia,  Sicily,  Crete,  Cyprus,  and  scattered 
groups  in  the  ^gean,  almost  formed  stepping-stones — 
at  least  they  afforded  convenient  stopping-places — on 
the  routes  across  the  Great  Sea. 

The  subject  peoples. — The  most  diverse  races  and 
peoples  met  and  mingled  in  the  population  of  this  vast 
Imperium  Romanum:  Spaniards,  Italians,  Greeks,  Mace- 
donians, Illyrians,  Gauls,  Celts,  Phoenicians,  Syrians, 
Arabs,  Egyptians,  Jews,  and  many  from  the  uncivilized 


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THE  ROMAN  WORLD  15 

peoples  of  the  north  (brought  in  as  slaves),  together 
with  numberless  traders  from  Armenia,  Persia  (Parthia), 
and  the  Orient.  It  is  true,  Alexander  the  Great  (who 
died  323  B.  C.)  had  begun  three  centuries  before  the 
process  of  welding  the  eastern  peoples  into  one.  But 
Alexander's  empire  was  short-Hved,  and  the  process  had 
gone  on  but  slowly  until  Rome  took  over  the  administra- 
tion of  world-government. 

Population. — It  is  estimated  that  between  sixty-five 
and  one  hundred  million  people  Hved  under  the  empire 
in  the  first  century — considerably  less  than  the  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States  to-day.  The  great  centers  of 
population  were,  as  they  had  been  for  many  centuries, 
Egypt  (the  valley  of  the  Nile),  Palestine  and  Syria, 
Cilicia  and  the  south  and  west  coasts  of  Asia  Minor, 
Greece  (though  much  more  sparsely  populated  than  in 
the  days  of  Pericles  and  Plato),  Italy,  and  the  islands 
— especially  Sicily  and  Cyprus.  Next  in  rank,  perhaps, 
stood  the  regions  immediately  back  of  Carthage  and 
Cyrene,  and  southern  Gaul  (back  of  Marseilles  and  along 
the  lower  Rhone). 

GOVERNMENT 

Over  this  scattered  but  yet  firmly  united  empire 
stood  the  emperor,  supreme.  Theoretically,  he  was  only 
the  imperator,  or  head  of  the  army,  and  therefore  re- 
sponsible to  the  Roman  Senate  for  his  actions;  actually, 
his  power  was  unlimited.  It  is  only  because  Augustus 
was  a  man  conservative  by  nature  and  afraid  of  un- 
popularity that  he  took  great  care  not  to  overstep  the 
traditional  limits  of  his  office,  and  deferred  to  the  Senate 
again  and  again.  His  successor,  Tiberius,  had  no  such 
fear  of  unpopularity;  and  from  his  time  onward  the 
imperial  power  was  practically  absolute. 


i6    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  provinces. — Over  the  separate  provinces  into 
which  the  empire  was  divided  were  appointed  governors 
(who  had  charge  of  the  administration  of  law  and  order) 
and  procurators  (who  had  charge  of  collecting  and  for- 
warding the  taxes).  No  uniform  system  of  law  was 
estabhshed  for  the  whole  empire.  The  old,  traditional 
laws  of  the  various  peoples  were  allowed  to  remain  in 
force,  often  administered  by  some  local  assembly  (like 
the  Sanhedrin  in  Jerusalem);  the  governor  interfered 
only  in  cases  of  life  and  death,  or  when  the  prestige  or 
authority  of  the  empire  was  at  stake.  In  such  actions 
he  was  required  to  use  great  tact  and  skill,  for  the  first 
object  of  the  imperial  administration  was  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace  and  prosperity,  which  insured  a  steady 
flow  of  tribute  from  the  provinces.  We  shall  see  again 
and  again  how  this  pohcy  affected  the  attitude  of  the 
government  and  its  agents  toward  the  early  Chris- 
tians. 

At  the  same  time  the  emperors  and  their  subordinates 
were  anxious  to  Romanize  their  subjects,  that  is,  to 
bring  them  all  to  one  standard  of  culture,  education, 
religion,  industrial  well-being,  and  pohtical  loyalty,  for 
a  common  civilization  alone  would  guarantee  the  unity 
and  permanence  of  the  empire.  We  shall  see  how  this 
policy  also  affected  the  fortunes  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

The  legions. — Throughout  the  empire  were  stationed 
the  legions  which  composed  the  Roman  army.  Espe- 
cially in  the  northern  and  eastern  provinces,  along  the 
borders  where  Germans,  Celts,  or  Parthians  threatened 
to  invade,  were  found  their  barracks  and  camps.  Tur- 
bulent and  unruly  districts  required  special  garrisons. 
Important  cities,  such  as  those  where  the  governors  and 
procurators    resided,    often    had    troops    stationed    to 


THE  ROMAN  WORLD  17 

guard  the  treasury  and  enforce  the  administration  of 
justice. 

INDUSTRIES,  COMMERCE  AND  TRAVEL 

This  vast  Mediterranean  basin,  bordered  on  the  north 
by  unpenetrated  forests  and  mountain  ranges,  on  the 
east  and  south  by  deserts,  on  the  west  by  the  unknown 
and  boundless  western  ocean,  had  more  or  less  a  com- 
mon industrial  life.  The  peasant  in  the  valley  of  the 
Po,  the  Greek  farmer  on  the  banks  of  the  Maeander, 
the  sailor  unlading  a  ship  at  Marseilles  or  Corinth  or 
Alexandria,  the  muleteer  of  Antioch  or  Cyrene  or 
Tarentimi,  ate  almost  the  same  kind  of  food,  wore 
almost  the  same  kind  of  clothes,  slept  in  almost  the 
same  kind  of  bed,  used  almost  the  same  Greek  slang. 
It  was  the  world  of  the  olive  tree  and  its  products,  of 
the  vine,  of  Egyptian  wheat  and  cotton,  of  Cilician  wool, 
of  Italian  flax  and  barley.  Just  as  the  whole  United 
States  uses  Georgia  cotton  and  Minnesota  flour  and 
Chicago  beef  and  California  fruit  and  New  England 
shoes,  so  the  people  throughout  the  Roman  Empire 
exchanged  their  products.  Ship-builders  and  riggers, 
masons,  carpenters,  road-builders,  tanners,  leather- 
workers,  wagon-makers,  spinners,  weavers,  dyers, 
farmers,  sheep-grazers,  brass-founders,  silversmiths, 
jewelers,  potters,  oil-pressers,  vintners,  tent-makers 
were  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  province. 

Trade. — The  trade,  both  by  sea  and  land,  was  im- 
mense and  constantly  increasing.  After  Pompey  had 
driven  the  pirates  from  the  open  seas,  regular  routes 
were  mapped  for  freight  and  passenger  vessels,  as  well 
as  the  imperial  triremes,  and  one  had  no  trouble  in 
securing  passage  from  one  port  to  another  (save  during 
the  winter  season).     Good  harbors  were  dredged  and 


i8     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

protected  with  breakwaters;  lighthouses  were  built  and 
harbor  police  appointed.  Month  after  month,  from 
early  spring  to  late  autumn,  great  wheat  barges  plied 
between  Alexandria  and  Rome.  Across  the  isthmus  at 
Corinth  were  transported  thousands  of  tons  of  food- 
stuffs and  manufactured  articles.  One  merchant  in 
western  Asia  Minor,  according  to  the  inscription  found 
on  his  tomb,  visited  Rome  no  less  than  seventy- two 
times.  Traders  and  merchants,  tourists  and  pilgrims 
traveled  everywhere. 

Highways. — By  land,  great  roads  were  laid  out,  kept 
in  repair  by  highway  commissioners  (curatores)  and 
patrolled  by  guards.  Across  Macedonia,  for  example, 
connecting  its  Adriatic  and  ^gean  coasts,  lay  the 
famous  and  much- traveled  Via  Egnatia.  Across  Asia 
Minor,  east  and  west,  ran  several  routes;  one,  from 
Sardis  to  the  Euphrates,  was  the  old  horse-road  used 
since  the  days  of  the  Persians;  another,  leading  from 
Ephesus  to  the  east,  joined  this  and  carried  the  bulk 
of  travel  and  transport.  Others  ran  north  and  south 
along  the  coast  or  spread  out  like  spiders'  webs  from 
Dorylaion,  Ancyra,  Laodicea.  Through  the  CiHcian  and 
Syrian  gates,  past  Antioch,  Sidcn  and  Caesarea,  lay  the 
coast  road  to  Alexandria.  Over  these  highways  passed 
the  soldiers  and  couriers  of  the  emperor.  A  regular  postal 
system  was  maintained,  the  post  traveling  between 
twenty-five  and  fifty  miles  a  day.  A  letter  mailed  ia 
Ephesus  on  Tuesday  would  be  delivered  in  Troas  on 
Friday.  One  sent  to  Rome  would  be  there  in  less  than 
three  weeks. 

EDUCATION,   SOCIAL  LIFE,   RELIGION 

Although  the  government  of  the  empire  was  Roman, 
its  culture  or  civilization,  especially  in  its  eastern  half, 


THE  ROMAN  WORLD  19 

was  thoroughly  Hellenistic.  That  is  to  say,  the  common 
language  was  Greek,  the  customs  and  social  usages,  the 
ideals  and  beliefs  of  the  people  were  those  which  had 
either  survived  or  grown  up  during  the  three  centuries 
since  Alexander's  conquest.  Schools  were  found  in  all 
but  the  smallest  villages;  grammar,  music,  geometry, 
rhetoric,  philosophy,  were  among  the  subjects  taught — 
invariably  in  Greek.  Public  Hbraries  were  found  in 
many  cities;  pubHc  baths  and  gymnasiums  almost 
everywhere.  Cities  like  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Athens, 
Ephesus,  were  centers  of  learning  made  famous  by  the 
brilliant  teachers  at  their  ''universities." 

Slaves  and  workmen. — Everywhere  were  found  the 
slaves,  the  lowest  class  of  laborers,  bought  and  sold  by 
their  masters.  They  were  usually  captives  taken  in  the 
wars,  or  kidnaped  in  childhood  from  the  islands  or 
remote  districts  in  the  country.  Some  of  them  were 
highly  educated  men,  teachers,  physicians,  or  trusted 
stewards  on  the  great  estates.  And  most  of  them,  as  a 
rule,  were  treated  more  humanely,  in  the  opening  years 
of  the  empire,  than  ever  before  in  history. 

Above  the  slaves  were  the  free  craftsmen,  often 
banded  together  into  guilds,  or  "labor  unions,"  for  pur- 
poses of  mutual  aid  in  sickness  or  when  out  of  work. 

Religion. — Everywhere  were  found  the  temples  of  the 
ancient  gods  of  the  cities,  together  with  new  temples  in 
honor  of  the  chief  Greek  deities,  Apollo,  Athena,  Zeus, 
and  also  in  honor  of  the  genius  of  the  empire — which 
men  naturally  looked  upon,  in  those  days,  as  worthy  of 
worship.  For  had  not  the  establishment  of  the  Roman 
power  brought  with  it  an  era  of  prosperity  and  peace 
such  as  was  never  known  before?  The  Augustan  Peace, 
the  pax  romana  or  pax  augtista,  was  the  promise  of  a 
new  age  now  dawning  upon  the  world.    Men  could 


20    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

scarcely  help  being  stirred  religiously  by  the  situation 
in  which  they  found  themselves.  As  the  poet  Virgil 
expressed  it, 

"Now  comes  the  last  age,  foretold  by  the  Sibyl  of 

Cumae; 
Once  more  is  renewed  the  procession  of  centuries: 

Justice 

Returns   to  the   earth,   and  the   Golden   Era   of 

Saturn."  „  .  , 

— Eclogue  4:4-6. 

In  addition  to  the  official  worship  of  the  old  gods  in 
the  pubhc  temples,  there  were  growing  up  new  cults  of 
every  sort.  The  empire  tolerated  them,  though  not  on 
the  same  terms  as  the  older  religions.  Isis,  Serapis,  Attis, 
the  Great  Mother  Cybele,  were  worshiped  in  every 
port  and  capital  of  the  east.  The  Jews  of  the  Disper- 
sion (Diaspora),  whose  synagogues  were  found  every- 
where from  east  to  west,  were  ardent  missionaries,  and 
had  undertaken  to  convert  the  Gentile  world  to  the 
rehgion  of  one  God  and  the  Law  of  Moses. 

The  "preparation  for  the  gospel." — All  these  fac- 
tors in  the  Kfe  of  the  early  Roman  Empire  were  of  very 
great  significance  for  the  rise  of  Christianity.  Its  political 
unity,  its  guarantee  of  public  order  and  safety,  its 
prudent  administration  of  justice,  its  good  roads  and 
harbors,  its  vast  shipping  and  its  postal  system,  its 
common  language  (Greek),  its  widespread  common 
education,  its  tolerance  of  new  religions,  its  more  hu- 
mane treatment  of  the  slaves  and  peasants,  its  associa- 
tions for  the  betterment  of  certain  classes  (mostly 
laborers),  and  the  Avidespread  spirit  of  hopefulness  and 
anticipation  which  had  spread  abroad  (like  the  ''era  of 
good  feeling"  in  America)— all  this  had,  as  we  shall  see, 
a  wonderful  bearing  upon  the  spread  of  the  Christian 


THE  ROMAN  WORLD  21 

gospel  and  the  founding  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Christians  have  always  looked  upon  it  as  the  work  of 
God's  providence,  the  divine  preparation  for  the  gospel. 
The  words  of  Saint  Paul  were  wholly  justified, 

'When  the  fullness  of  the  time  had  come,  God 
sent  forth  his  Son."— Galatians  4:  4. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up,  in  yoiir  ancient  history,   the  maps  which 

show  the  gradual  expansion  of  the  Roman  Empire 
between  the  third  century  B.  C.  and  the  reign  of 
Augustus.  Locate  the  places  named  in  the  opening 
paragraphs  of  this  chapter. 

2.  What  was  the  official  title  of  Augustus?    What  did  it 

mean?  How  did  he  receive  it?  (See  your  ancient 
history,  for  example,  Breasted's  Ancient  Times.) 

3.  Define  legion,  province,  procurator,  curator,  pax  rontana, 

in  yoiu*  notebook. 

4.  What  was  the  common  language  of  at  least  the  eastern 

half  of  the  Roman  Empire?  In  what  language  was 
the  New  Testament  written? 

5.  Who  was  Virgil?     Find  out  what  he  meant  by  the 

''Sibyl  of  Cumae"  and  the  "Golden  Era  of  Saturn." 

6.  What  was  the  condition  of  the  slaves  in  this  period? 

7.  Read  in  your  ancient  history  the  chapters  on  the  civili- 

zation of  the  early  Roman  Empire  (for  example, 
Breasted's  Ancient  Times,  §§91-93). 

8.  Are  there  any  conditions  in  the  modem  world  favorable 

to  the  spread  of  the  Christian  religion,  which  may 
be  compared  with  those  in  the  first  century?  If  so, 
how  ought  we  to  seize  the  opportunity? 


PART  ONE 
THE  EARLY  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  DISCIPLES  AT  JERUSALEM 

Christianity  arose  in  one  of  the  new  eastern  provinces 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  Since  the  year  63  B.  C,  when 
Pompey  entered  Jerusalem,  the  Romans  had  been 
gradually  taking  over  the  administration  of  Palestine. 
Herod  the  Great  (40-4  B.  C.)  had  been  a  rex  sociiis  or 
"allied  king" — that  is,  an  al  y  of  the  Romans.  His  sons 
were  "tetrarchs,"  ruling  under  the  supervision  of  the 
legate  of  Syria  stationed  at  Antioch.  But  when  Herod's 
son  Archelaus  was  deposed  in  the  year  6  A.  D.,  on 
iccount  of  his  unfitness  for  office,  the  emperor  appointed 
a  procurator  for  Judaea  and  Samaria;  and  from  that 
time  onward  (save  for  one  brief  interval)  Judaea  was 
a  full-fledged  province  of  the  Roman  Empire,  albeit  a 
province  of  second  rank. 

It  was  under  one  of  these  Roman  procurators,  Pontius 
Pilate,  that  John  the  Baptist  appeared  as  the  herald  of 
the  Messiah,  and  our  Lord  himself  fulfilled  his  ministry. 
It  was  Pilate  who  gave  permission  for  Jesus'  crucifixion, 
yielding  to  the  demand  of  Jesus*  enemies  and  hoping  in 
this  way  to  keep  peace  at  a  crucial  hour  during  Passover 
week  in  the  spring  of  the  year  29  A.  D. 

EVENTS  FOLLOWING  THE  PASSOVER 

Jesus  and  his  disciples  had  come  to  Jerusalem  to  keep 
the  Passover,  as  did  every  faithful  Jew  unless  he  lived 
too  far  from  Palestine.  The  Master  himself  had  realized, 
even  before  he  came  up  from  Galilee  for  the  feast,  that 

25 


2^    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

this  would  be  his  last  visit  to  the  Holy  City,  that  perse- 
cution, suffering,  death  awaited  him  there.  But  he 
went,  nevertheless,  undaunted  by  the  prospect. 

And  as  he  had  anticipated,  so  events  turned  out.  He 
was  seized  at  midnight  on  the  very  eve  of  the  Passover, 
while  praying  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.  After  a 
hasty  and  illegal  "trial"  by  his  enemies,  he  was  de- 
nounced before  Pilate  as  an  insurrectionist  against  the 
Roman  government.  After  a  weak  and  half-hearted 
attempt  to  save  him,  Pilate  5aelded  to  popular  clamor 
— artfully  roused  outside  the  prcetorium  by  the  priests — 
and  Jesus  was  led  away  to  be  crucified. 

The  resurrection. — Meanwhile,  the  disciples  remained 
in  Jerusalem,  hiding,  fearful  to  venture  out  lest  they 
too  should  be  mobbed  by  some  fanatical  crowd  of  fellow 
pilgrims  now  in  the  city.  Only  a  few  faithful  women 
followers  of  Jesus,  and  his  "acquaintances,"  looked  on 
from  a  distance  while  he  was  hanging  upon  the  cross 
(Luke  23:49).  As  soon  as  the  Sabbath  following  the 
Passover  had  ended,  some  of  the  disciples  started  for 
their  homes,  disappointed,  disillusioned,  compelled  to 
admit  that  the  hope  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  their 
faith  in  Jesus'  Messiahship  had  all  been  a  tragic  mistake. 
Others,  like  the  women  who  went  early  on  Sunday 
morning  (the  morning  after  the  Sabbath)  to  the  sepul- 
cher,  remained  in  Jerusalem  to  do  what  they  could  to 
give  Jesus  a  suitable  burial;  for  on  Friday  afternoon,  as 
sunset  approached  (which  meant  the  arrival  of  the 
Sabbath),  Jesus'  body  had  been  very  hastily  taken  down 
from  the  cross  and  temporarily  laid,  unwrapped  and  un- 
prepared for  burial,  in  the  new  tomb  of  Joseph  of 
Arimathaea,  a  secret  disciple.  Going  early  to  the  tomb,  as 
it  began  to  dawn  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  with 
spices  and  linen  in  which  to  wrap  the  body,  they  were 


THE  DISCIPLES  AT  JERUSALEM  27 

amazed  to  find  the  great  stone  door  of  the  tomb  rolled 
away  and  the  body  of  Jesus  gone. 

Just  then  appeared  two  men  in  dazzling  apparel, 
bidding  them  go  and  tell  the  other  disciples  that  Jesus 
was  risen  from  the  dead!  But  the  disciples  when  they 
heard  it  could  not  believe.  Peter  and  one  of  the  others 
ran  to  the  tomb,  found  it,  as  the  women  had  found  it, 
empty,  but  saw  no  vision  nor  heard  any  words.  It  was 
too  good  to  be  true,  that  Jesus  was  not  dead  but  still 
living,  still  their  Master,  still  Messiah.  Someone  must 
have  taken  away  his  body  during  the  night! 

But  that  very  day  Jesus  himself  appeared  to  them, 
convincing  them  beyond  any  doubt  that  he  was  risen 
from  the  dead,  really  alive,  and  their  Master  still.  To 
Peter,  to  the  faithful  eleven,  to  the  devoted  women,  to 
two  disciples  on  their  way  home  to  Emmaus,  Jesus 
appeared  and  proved  that  he  was  stiU  alive,  still  Mes- 
siah, still  continuing  his  work  for  God  and  God's  king- 
dom. 

This  was  the  turning-pomt  in  the  disciples'  faith,  and 
the  most  important  hoxir  in  all  Christian  history.  Only 
this  conviction  that  Jesus  was  still  living,  still  present 
with  them,  still  preparing  for  the  coming  of  God's 
kingdom  "in  power  and  great  glory,"  enabled  them  to 
conquer  their  doubts  and  fears  and  carry  out  the  mis- 
sion which  he  had  for  them  to  perform  as  his  repre- 
sentatives. 

The  ascension. — ^Several  times  after  that  they  saw 
him,  singly  or  in  groups,  and  always  he  was  the  same. 
Though  "glorified,"  and  possessing  a  "spiritual  body" 
which  entered  the  room  where  they  were  gathered  even 
though  the  doors  and  windows  were  barred,  it  was  the 
same  Jesus  they  had  known  in  the  happy,  hopeful  days 
in  Galilee,  which  now  seemed  so  long  ago.   Not  only  in 


28    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  final  chapters  of  the  Gospels  do  we  find  accounts  of 
Jesus'  appearances  after  the  resurrection;  but  also  in 
one  of  the  letters  of  Paul,  written  long  before  any  of  the 
Gospels,  there  is  a  list  of  his  appearances — to  Cephas 
(Peter),  to  the  Twelve,  to  more  than  five  hundred 
brethren  at  once,  to  James,  then  to  all  the  apostles,  and 
last  of  aU  to  Paul  himself  (i  Corinthians  15:4-8). 

For  several  weeks,  therefore,  the  disciples  remained 
in  Jerusalem,  sharing  these  experiences,  and,  in  obedience 
to  Jesus'  command,  waiting  for  the  "baptism  of  the 
Holy  Spirit"  which  had  been  promised  since  the  days 
of  John  and  was  expected  to  precede  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom. 

At  last,  one  day,  as  they  were  gathered  on  the  Mount 
of  Olives  (where  Jesus  had  been  seized  by  the  high 
priest's  servants  on  the  night  before  he  died),  the  Master 
appeared  to  them  once  more,  and  they  asked  him,  *T,ord, 
are  you  now  about  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel?" 
In  spite  of  all  that  had  taken  place,  in  spite  of  all  that 
Jesus  had  taught  them,  they  still  expected  the  reign  of 
God  to  be  an  earthly  kingdom,  with  a  throne  set  up  in 
Jerusalem,  and  with  armies  and  captains  and  collectors 
of  tribute  to  serve  under  Jesus  as  king!  But  he  replied 
to  them, 

"It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  seasons, 
which  the  Father  has  fixed  by  his  own  authority. 
But  you  shall  receive  power,  when  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  come  upon  you,  and  you  shall  be  my  witnesses, 
not  only  in  Jerusalem  but  in  all  Judaea  and  Samaria, 
and  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth." — ^Acts  i :  7-8. 

While  they  looked  and  listened  to  these  words  he 
vanished  from  them.  He  went  up,  and  a  cloud  hid  him 
from  their  sight.   And  there  appeared  two  men  in  white 


THE  DISCIPLES  AT  JERUSALEM  29 

apparel — as  in  the  vision  of  the  women  at  the  sepulcher 
—who  said,  "Men  of  Galilee,  why  do  you  stand  gazing 
up  into  heaven?  This  Jesus,  who  has  been  received  up 
into  heaven,  shall  come  again  in  the  same  manner  as 
you  have  seen  him  go." 

And  so  they  returned  to  Jerusalem,  to  the  upper  room, 
where  Jesus  had  eaten  the  Passover  with  them,  and 
engaged  in  prayer  and  waited  for  the  fulfillment  of 
Jesus'  promise. 

THE  CHOICE  OF  MATTHIAS 

There  were  now  only  eleven  disciples,  since  Judas,  the 
betrayer,  had  committed  suicide. 

The  "Eleven." — These  were  Peter  and  James  and 
John  and  Andrew,  Philip  and  Thomas,  Bartholomew 
and  Matthew,  James  the  son  of  Alphaeus,  Simon  the 
zealot,  and  Jude  the  son  (or  perhaps  brother)  of  James. 
These  all,  Luke  says,  ''with  one  accord  continued  sted- 
fast  in  prayer,  together  with  certain  women  (who  had 
come  up  with  them  from  Galilee,  and  some  who  lived  in 
Jerusalem),  and  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  his 
brethren  (who  had  at  last  been  convinced  of  Jesus' 
Messiahship,  and  followed  him  to  the  Passover)  (Acts 
i:  14). 

A  new  apostle. — For  some  reason — probably  because 
Jesus  had  chosen  just  twelve  men,  no  more  and  no  less, 
to  be  his  disciples — it  was  felt  that  some  one  must  be 
chosen  to  fill  Judas'  place.  The  Kingdom,  as  they 
expected  it,  was  to  be  the  restoration  of  the  ancient 
monarchy  of  David;  and  the  twelve  disciples  were, 
therefore,  to  be  twelve  ''judges"  set  over  the  tribes. 
This  may  be  the  reason  why  the  number  twelve  was  so 
carefully  preserved.  Or  it  may  have  been  because  each 
^apostle  was    expected  to  be  a  witness  for  Jesus  to  one 


30    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

of  the  Jewish  tribes  dispersed  throughout  the  world.  In 
some  such  way  they  may  have  understood  the  require- 
ment. Whichever  it  was,  Peter  arose  at  one  of  the  meet- 
ings of  the  disciples  and  other  followers  of  Jesus  (about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  persons  in  all),  and  proposed 
that  another  "witness"  be  chosen. 

"Of  the  men  who  have  been  with  us  all  the  time 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  out  among  us,  be- 
ginning from  lie  baptism  of  John  and  until  the  day 
when  he  was  received  up  from  us,  one  must  be 
chosen  to  be  a  witness  with  us  of  his  resurrection." 
— ^Acts  1:21,  22. 

There  were  two  nominations,  Joseph  Barsabbas  (who 
bad  still  another  name,  Justus)  and  Matthias — dis- 
ciples who  are  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  of  whom,  therefore,  we  know  nothing. 
But  instead  of  voting,  as  we  should  do,  they  followed 
the  usual  Jewish  custom  of  prayer  and  casting  lots:  for 
they  felt  that  the  choice  was  not  theirs  but  God's,  and 
he  would  show  his  preference  in  this  way.  "Thou,  Lord," 
they  prayed,  "who  knowest  the  hearts  of  all  men,  show 
which  of  these  two  is  the  one  whom  thou  hast  chosen,  to 
take  the  place  in  this  ministry  and  apostleship  of  Judas, 
who  fell  away"  (Acts  i:  24,  25).  Then  they  cast  lots; 
and  the  lot  fell  to  Matthias.  "And  he  was  numbered 
with  the  Twelve." 

Witnesses  for  Jesus. — This,  then,  was  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  Church — when  these  few 
disciples,  mostly  Galileans  and  not  at  home  in  Jerusalem, 
but  held  there  for  a  purpose  and  united  by  an  absolute 
conviction  of  Jesus'  resurrection  and  continued  life  and 
Messiahship  and  coming  reign — when  these  men  calmly 
set  about  their  task  of  "witnessing"  to  Jesus,  and  chose 


THE  DISCIPLES  AT  JERUSALEM  31 

one  more  to  fill  out  their  band.  Their  backs  were  now 
turned  forever  upon  their  homes  in  Galilee,  their  busi- 
ness, their  old  associations  and  friendships.  Their  task 
was  one,  and  their  whole  purpose  in  life  was  to  accom- 
plish it.  Their  fears  had  vanished:  it  did  not  matter 
that  the  authorities  were  hostile  and  would  certainly 
oppose  their  movement.  They  were  men  under  com- 
mand, and  they  were  obedient.  Jesus  was  their  Master 
still,  and  he  had  a  work  for  them  to  do. 

Out  of  that  tiny  group,  hiding  at  first  in  fear  in  an 
upper  room  in  the  ancient  city  of  Jerusalem,  grew  in 
time  the  great  Christian  Church,  the  church  of  the 
empire,  and  the  leading  religion  of  the  Western  world — 
a  religion  still  making  conquests,  and  bent  upon  bringing 
the  whole  world  to  Christ,  our  religion  to-day,  twenty 
centuries  after  the  apostles.  Twelve  men !  — and  most  of 
them  Galileans,  scarcely  able  to  speak  their  own  language 
well;  men  despised  as  ignorant  and  crude  by  the  learned 
priests  and  Pharisees  of  the  capital;  uncouth  fishermen 
and  peasants,  one  a  publican  and  one  a  fanatic,  a 
"zealot" — these  were  the  "weak  ones  of  the  earth''  whom 
Gk>d  chose  and  used  in  accomplishing  the  holiest  of  his 
purposes. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Review  the  first  part  of  Chapter  II  of  The  Life  and 

Times  of  Jesus.  Describe  the  relation  of  Palestine 
to  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  beginning  of  the  first 
century.  Find  Syria  and  Palestine  on  a  map  of  the 
empire.  Locate  them  on  an  outline  map  in  your 
notebook. 

2.  Read  the  last  chapter  of  Saint  Luke  and  the  first 

chapter  of  the  book  of  Acts,  and  see  how  they  fit 
together.    Make  a  brief  outline  of  the  two  chapters. 


32    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

3.  Look  up  the  list  of  Jesus'  appearances  in  i  Corinthians 

15.    Copy  it  in  your  notebook. 

4.  Where  was  the  Mount  of  Olives?    How  far  was  it  from 

Jerusalem?     What  is  "a  Sabbath  day's  journey," 
and  why  is  it  so  called?    (Acts  1:12.) 

5.  Describe  the  great  change  which  took  place  in  the 

minds  of  the  disciples  between  the  crucifixion  and 
the  ascension.    What  produced  this  change? 

6.  Who  were  "the  women"?    See  Luke  8:  1-3;  23:  27-28, 

49.  55;  John  19:  25;  Mark  16:  i. 

7.  Why  was  Matthias  chosen  "by  lot"? 

8.  In  what  sense  are  Christians  to-day  to  be  "witnesses 

for  Jesus"?    Does  God  still  bless  the  testimony  even 
of  poor  and  uneducated  disciples? 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST 

As  the  disciples  continued  waiting  for  the  fulfilhnent 
of  "the  promise,"  the  festival  of  Pentecost  drew  near. 
As  its  name  implies  in  Greek,  this  was  fifty  days  after 
the  Passover,  and  was  the  occasion  of  special  services  at 
the  Temple.  It  was  the  old  "Feast  of  Weeks,"  or 
"Feast  of  First  Fruits"  (of  the  wheat  harvest),  described 
in  the  Old  Testament;  and  it  was  the  second  of  the  three 
great  festivals  to  be  celebrated  at  the  national  sanctuary, 
the  temple,  by  all  Jewish  men  and  boys  over  twelve.  Its 
importance  was  further  enhanced  by  a  growing  belief 
that  the  sacred  Law  had  been  given  to  Moses  at  Sinai 
on  the  sixth  or  seventh  day  of  the  month  Siwan,  the  day 
on  which  Pentecost  fell. 

The  disciples,  as  Luke  said  at  the  end  of  his  Gospel, 
"were  continually  in  the  temple  blessing  God."  That  is, 
they  attended  the  services  at  the  regular  hours  of  wor- 
ship, the  morning  and  evening  sacrifices,  and  the  "hours 
of  prayer"  through  the  day.  But  they  also  had  meetings 
of  their  own  for  prayer,  held  probably  in  the  upper  room 
where  they  were  staying  (Acts  i:  13-14)-  It  was  here 
that  the  Master  "showed  himself  alive  after  his  passion 
by  many  infallible  proofs,  appearing  to  them  (from  time 
to  time)  during  a  space  of  forty  days,  and  speaking  the 
things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Acts  1:3). 

THE  COMING  OF  THE  SPIRIT 

The  promise  whose  fulfilhnent  they  awaited  was  the 
one  which  John  the  Baptist  had  proclaimed,  in  an- 

33 


34    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

nouncing  the  coming  of  the  Messiah:  "There  comes  one 
mightier  than  I,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not 
worthy  to  unloose;  he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  with  fire  ..."  (Luke  3:  16).  Jesus  had  re- 
peated and  renewed  it  when  he  charged  the  disciples 
*^not  to  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  to  wait  for  the 
promise  of  the  Father,  which,  said  he,  you  have  heard 
from  me.  For  John  indeed  baptized  with  water;  but  you 
shaU  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit  not  many  days 
hence"  (Acts  i:  4-5). 

The  wind  and  the  fire. — As  they  waited,  earnestly 
engaged  in  prayer  in  the  quiet  upper  chamber  on  the 
morning  of  the  day  of  Pentecost,  a  strange,  mysterious 
event  occurred.  Of  a  sudden  there  "came  a  sound  from 
heaven  like  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind,  filling  the 
whole  house  where  they  were  sitting" — such  a  sound  as 
one  hears  sometimes  at  the  beginning  of  a  storm;  first 
the  intense  calm,  broken  by  a  faint,  far-off  rustling,  then 
the  rush  and  roar  of  a  wind  growing  stronger  every 
second  tiU  the  house  shakes  and  the  windows  rattle,  so 
that  it  can  only  be  described  as  coming  from  a  distance, 
out  of  the  sky,  "from  heaven"  (Acts  2:2;  compare  4:31). 

Then,  as  in  the  manifestation  of  Yahweh  to  the 
ancient  prophet  Elijah  (i  Kings  19:  9-13),  the  wind  was 
followed  by  an  appearance  resembling  fire.  "There  ap- 
peared to  them^  tongues  which  were  being  distributed 
among  them,  like  flames  of  fire,  and  rested  upon  each 
one  of  them." 

Speaking  with  tongues. — But  strange  as  was  this 
experience,  it  was  at  once  followed  by  one  still  more 
striking.  The  disciples,  who  were  mostly  GalUaeans  and 
had  attracted  attention  in  Jerusalem  by  their  uncouth 
pronunciation  of  the  mother  tongue  (Matthew  26:  73), 

»  "Appeared"  as  in  a  vision;  the  words  are  ordinarily  used  of  visions. 


THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST  35 

now  ''began  to  speak  with  different  tongues,  as  the 
Spirit  gave  them  utterance/' 

"Now  there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem  Jews,  de- 
vout men,  from  every  nation  under  heaven.  And 
when  this  sound  was  heard,  the  multitude  came 
together  and  were  confounded,  for  every  man 
heard  them  speaking  in  his  own  language.  And 
they  were  all  amazed  and  marveled,  saying,  Be- 
hold, are  not  all  these  which  speak  Galilaeans? 
And  how  hear  we  every  man  in  his  own  language 
wherein  we  were  bom? — Parthians  and  Modes  and 
Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  in 
Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and  Asia,  in 
Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and  the  parts  of 
Libya  about  Cyrene,  and  sojourners  from  Rome, 
both  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretans  and  Arabians, 
we  do  hear  them  speak  in  our  own  tongues  the 
mighty  works  of  God!  And  they  were  all  amazed 
and  perplexed,  sajdng  one  to  another,  *What  does 
this  mean?*  But  others  said,  *They  are  full  of  new 
wine.'  " — ^Acts  2 :  5-13. 

This  story,  taken  from  one  of  the  earliest  records  of 
the  church,  presents  a  clear  and  vivid  picture  of  the 
scene:  the  Jews  and  proselytes  gathered  at  Jerusalem; 
Passover  pilgrims  still  lingering  after  the  feast;  visitors 
come  up  to  keep  Pentecost  or  the  Feast  of  Weeks;  others 
who  had  settled  in  the  holy  city  of  Judaism  to  spend 
their  remaining  years  under  the  very  shadow  of  the 
Temple;  the  exultant  disciples,  speaking  in  a  strange, 
new  manner,  a  group  of  men  all  speaking  in  other 
"tongues." 

Peter's  sermon 

We  can  understand  the  surprise  of  the  multitude  as 
they  Hstened  to  the  words  of  the  Twelve.    It  seems 


36    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

strange  to  us,  if  the  disciples  were  heard  speaking  in 
various  foreign  languages,  that  some  in  the  crowd  sup- 
posed them  intoxicated  with  new  wine.  Yet  this  helps 
us  to  imagine  more  clearly  the  picture.  The  disciples 
were  jubilant,  and  felt  exalted,  free  and  happy.  ^The 
promise"  had  at  last  been  fulfilled!  They  could  scarcely 
contain  their  joy.  Their  hearts  overflowed.  It  was  an 
hour  of  strange,  mysterious  rejoicing,  and  the  men  in 
the  street  could  not  understand  it  since  they  did  not 
share  in  its  cause. 

Prophecy  fulfilled. — Peter,  who  was  the  spokesman 
for  the  band  of  disciples,  rose  up  to  explain  their  strange 
words  and  actions  to  the  crowd.  His  address  is  the 
earliest  Christian  sermon  of  which  we  have  any  record, 
outside  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  it  is  well  worth  while 
to  study  it  carefully.  We  must  remember  that  Peter  was 
a  fisherman,  a  plain  man  of  the  people.  His  words  were 
few,  like  Lincoln's,  and  went  straight  to  the  heart  of 
his  subject. 

"Men  of  Judsea,  and  all  who  dwell  in  Jerusalem, 
listen  while  I  explain  to  you  what  has  happened. 
These  men  are  not  drunk,  as  you  suppose — impos- 
sible! for  this  is  only  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Rather,  what  you  see  before  you  is  the  fulfillment 
of  the  words  of  Joel  the  prophet, 

*And  it  shall  be  in  the  last  days,  saith  God, 

I  will  pour  forth  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh; 

And  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall 
prophesy, 

And  your  young  men  shall  see  visions, 

And  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams; 

Yea,  and  on  the  very  slaves  and  handmaids  in 
those  days 

Shall  my  Spirit  be  outpoured.  .  .  . 

Before  the  Day  of  the  Lord  arrives, 


THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST  37 

That  great  and  notable  Day — 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
That  whosoever  calls  on  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.' " 

— Acts  2: 14-21. 

Jesus  the  Messiah.  —We  now  begin  to  see  the  mean- 
ing of  "the  promise"  for  the  disciples  themselves.  Jesus 
their  Master,  still  living,  risen  from  the  dead,  ascended 
to  God's  right  hand,  was  about  to  return  in  glory  and 
hold  the  Last  Judgment,  and  set  up  his  reign  on  earth 
as  Messiah,  as  Prince  in  the  kingdom  of  God  over  a 
renewed  and  purified  world.  The  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  was  one  of  the  events  which  prophecy  was  under- 
stood to  reveal  as  preceding  this  "great  and  notable 
Day  of  the  Lord." 

Now  Peter  turns  from  the  immediate  experience  of 
the  day  and  its  explanation  to  the  real  cause  lying  back 
of  it  all — Jesus'  Messiahship,  resurrection,  and  present 
glory. 

"Men  of  Israel,  hear  these  words.  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, a  man  approved  by  God  unto  you  through 
mighty  works  and  wonders  and  signs  which  God  did 
through  him  in  your  very  midst,  as  you  yourselves 
know — he,  being  deUvered  up  by  the  determinate 
counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  was  crucified  and 
put  to  death  at  the  hands  of  lawless  men.  But  God 
raised  him  up,  having  loosed  the  pangs  of  death: 
for  it  was  not  possible  that  death  should  restrain 
him.'* — Acts  2 :  22-24. 

Peter  then  proves  this  point  by  a  long  quotation  from 
the  Psalms,  the  words,  "Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul 
in  Sheol,"  being  understood  of  Jesus'  death  and  burial. 
"This  Jesus,"  he  continues,  "did  God  raise  up;  and  we 


38      THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

all  are  witnesses  to  the  fact."    Quoting  another  Psalm, 
with  the  words, 

"The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord, 
Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand 
Until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool," 

(this  was  understood  of  Jesus'  exaltation  to  God's  right 
hand  in  glory)  he  concluded, 

"Being  exalted,  therefore,  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  and  having  received  from  the  Father  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  has  poured  forth  this, 
which  you  yourselves  see  and  hear.  .  .  .  Let  all  the 
house  of  Israel  know  for  certain  that  God  has  made 
him  both  Lord  and  Christ,  this  Jesus  whom  you 
crucified !" — ^Acts  2 :  33-36. 

The  effect  of  the  sermon. — We  scarcely  realize  the 
power  of  these  simple  words,  reinforced  as  they  were  by 
appeal  to  the  sacred  and  familiar  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament,  reinforced  still  more  strongly  by  the  strange 
events  of  the  morning  which  all  had  witnessed.  Awe 
filled  the  hearts  of  Peter's  hearers.  His  plain,  straight- 
forward talk  convinced  them.  "Brethren,  what  shall  we 
do?"  was  their  eager  response.   And  Peter  replied, 

"Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins; 
and  you  too  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
For  the  promise  is  to  you — not  to  us  alone — to  you 
and  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even 
as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call  to  him." — 
Acts  2:37-39. 

With  these  and  other  words  of  exhortation  he  urged 
his  hearers  to  repentance.   "Then  they  that  received  his 


THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST  39 

word,"  Luke  adds,  "were  baptized.  And  there  were 
added  to  them  that  day  about  three  thousand  souls." 

Beginning  of  the  church's  growth. — Such  was  the 
success  of  the  first  day's  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  the 
apostles,  the  first-fruits  of  "the  promise"  of  the  Spirit. 
Into  that  strange  experience  of  the  Spirit's  coming  and 
his  power,  the  sound  like  a  wind  from  heaven,  the  fire 
which  "distributed  itself"  into  tongue-like  flames  above 
the  head  of  each  apostle,  the  "talking  with  tongues" — 
into  that  strange  and  mystical  experience  we  cannot 
enter.  We  cannot  explain  it,  because  we  have  never 
experienced  it;  possibly  no  one  can  explain  ecstasy  of 
that  sort.  There  were  other  experiences  somewhat  like 
it  (see  Acts  4:  31,  and  many  references  to  "prophesying" 
or  "speaking  with  tongues"  in  Saint  Paul's  letters — for 
example,  i  Corinthians  12-14).  Usually,  the  prophet  or 
speaker  with  a  strange  tongue  required  an  interpreter 
to  explain  his  utterances.  The  strange  gift  died  away 
gradually,  and  disappeared  by  the  end  of  the  second 
century.  Occasionally  since  those  days,  persons  have 
been  said  to  "speak  with  tongues,"  either  in  ecstasy, 
when  they  spoke  words  that  no  one  could  understand,  or 
when  repeating  by  some  strange  trick  of  memory  words 
in  foreign  languages  which  they  had  some  time  heard. 
This  is  not  identical  with  the  apostles'  experience  on 
Pentecost,  but  it  at  least  helps  us  to  understand  the 
impression  their  words  made  upon  the  minds  of  their 
hearers. 

At  the  same  time  we  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that 
what  converted  in  one  day  three  thousand  Jews  and 
proselytes  to  the  Christian  faith  was  not  the  strange 
events,  the  mystical  experiences  of  the  apostles,  alone; 
rather  it  was  Peter's  plain,  straightforward,  reasoned 
appeal  to  the  consciences  of  men  who  had  known  Jesus 


40    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

of  Nazareth  and  had  seen  him  innocently  put  to  death, 
and  were  now  told  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead  and 
ascended  to  the  throne  of  God.  The  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  was  only  the  latest  proof  of  his  exaltation  and 
power.  That  is  what  brought  three  thousand  men  to 
their  knees  in  penitence,  and  started  the  church  on  its 
wonderful,  expansive  growth. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  What  was  a  proselyte?     Look  up  in  the  Bible  dic- 

tionary. Define  "mystical,"  "ecstasy,"  "pente- 
costal." 

2.  Recall  from  your  study  of  the  life  of  Christ  the  de- 

scription of  the  Temple  services.  Look  up  "Pente- 
cost" in  the  Bible  dictionary. 

3.  Read  the  story  of  Elijah  at  Horeb  (in  First  Kings), 

and  note  any  resemblances  to  the  story  of  Pente- 
cost. 

4.  Locate  on  the  map  the  peoples  represented  in  the 

throng  at  Jerusalem  described  in  Acts  2:9-11. 
Note  that  Luke  lists  them  in  a  general  order  from 
east  to  west — but  not  very  far  west. 

5.  How  did  Peter  refute  the  charge  that  the  disciples 

were  drunk  with  new  wine? 

6.  Name  some  of  the  "mighty  works"  of  Jesus  which 

wotild  be  known  to  Peter's  hearers  (see  Chapters 
IX,  X,  etc.,  of  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus). 

7.  Read  the  whole  passage  in  Joel,  and  study  it  as  a 

prediction  of  the  "signs"  to  precede  "the  Day  of 
the  Lord." 

8.  Look  up  "speaking  with  tongues"  in  the  Bible  dic- 

tionary. 

9.  Is  repentance  still  essential  to  becoming  or  remaining 

a  Christian?  Show  how  Saint  Peter's  words  are 
true  to-day.    How  do  they  apply  to  us? 


THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST  41 

A  great  many,  probably  the  majority  of  modem 
scholars  hold  that  the  disciples'  experience  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  was  simply  the  "glossolalia,"  or  ecstatic 
"speaking  with  (another)  tongue"  common  in  the  apos- 
toHc  age — at  least  in  the  Gentile  chiirches.  What  this 
was  we  know  fairly  well  from  the  letters  of  Paul — semi- 
articulate  cries  of  rejoicing,  prayers,  blessings,  confessions 
of  sin,  "prophecies,"  and  so  on.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
Paul  himself  laid  no  great  weight  on  this  strange  expe- 
rience. Then  in  the  course  of  time  the  "glossolaHa"  was 
forgotten,  and  the  tradition  was  recorded  as  in  the 
second  chapter  of  Acts — as  the  "gift  of  divers  languages," 
equipping  the  apostles  to  "preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,"  and  "make  disciples  of  all  nations."  The  es- 
sential thing,  of  course,  is  an  experience  which  convinced 
the  disciples  themselves  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had  been 
given  them,  that  God  was  with  them,  that  Jesus  was 
coming  "in  power."  The  strange  phenomenon  itself  had 
little  if  any  effect  upon  the  multitude  (see  verses  12,  13), 
which  is  just  what  happened  later  on  when  the  Christians 
in  Corinth  "spoke  with  tongues"  (i  Corinthians  14-23). 
The  gift  was  useful  only  to  its  possessor  (i  Corinthians 
14:  2-4):  in  this  case  it  was  just  the  kind  of  proof  the 
disciples  awaited  that  God  approved  their  course  and 
that  he  was  actually  present  with  them,  through  his 
Spirit. 

It  is  most  wonderful  how  God  accommodates  himself 
to  the  limitations  and  necessities  of  men.  We  do  not 
need  such  proof  to-day  because  we  have  other  proofs  of 
his  presence  and  power  (do  we  sufficiently  recognize 
them?).  No  doubt  this  is  one  reason  for  the  absence,  or 
infrequency,  of  miracles  in  modem  times.^ 

1  See  Dr.  Hayes'  book  on  The  Gift  of  Tongues. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PETER  AND  JOHN  IN  THE  TEMPLE 

The  accounts  which  have  come  down  to  us  regarding 
the  disciples  in  Jerusalem  after  the  resurrection  are 
among  the  oldest  traditions  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Like  the  early  narratives  of  the  Old  Testament,  like  the 
traditional  histories  of  other  religions,  these  accounts 
were  circulated  "orally" — that  is,  by  word  of  mouth,  not 
written  down — for  many  years  before  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  written.  Although  the  New  Testament  was 
written  in  Greek,  there  is  evidence  that  these  narratives 
were  originally  handed  down  in  Aramaic,  the  language 
of  Palestine,  of  Jesus  and  the  Twelve. 


Our  only  authority  for  the  history  of  these  early 
years  is  the  book  of  Acts,  the  fifth  writing  contained  in 
our  New  Testament. 

The  author  of  Acts. — This  book  was  written  by  the 
author  of  the  third  Gospel,  the  evangelist  Saint  Luke 
(compare  Luke  1:1-4  a-nd  Acts  i :  i,  2),  who  wrote  it  as 
a  continuation  of  the  narrative  of  Jesus'  life,  and  ded- 
icated it  to  his  friend  Theophilus.  Luke  wrote,  probably, 
about  the  year  85,  though  there  are  some  scholars  who 
hold  that  the  date  was  much  earlier.  Luke  was  the 
friend  of  Paul,  his  traveling  companion  on  several 
journeys,  and  "the  beloved  physician"  who  was  with 
him  even  as  a  prisoner  in  Rome. 

Luke's  Gospel  has  been  pronounced  "the  most  beauti- 

42 


PETER  AND  JOHN  IN  THE  TEMPLE      43 

ful  book  in  the  world,"  and  the  Acts  is  its  fitting  sequel. 
Writing  at  the  late  date  of,  say,  85  A.  D.,  fifty  years 
after  the  events  described,  Luke  delved  deeply  into  the 
history  of  the  past,  as  a  historian  to-day  would  do  in 
writing  an  account  of  the  Civil  War,  and  searched  out 
the  most  trustworthy  records,  and  oral  or  written,  in 
order  to  "trace  the  course  of  all  things  accurately  from 
the  first."  Just  as  the  first  two  chapters  of  the  Gospel, 
so  also  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  Acts  were  probably 
translated  by  Luke  (or  for  him)  out  of  the  Aramaic 
language  in  the  most  charming,  simple  style  of  the 
whole  Greek  New  Testament.  In  addition  to  this,  he 
used,  in  the  later  chapters,  where  he  describes  Paul's 
journeys,  his  own  diary  written  down  at  the  time  (see 
Acts  16:  loff.,  and  note  the  use  of  "we"  and  "us"). 

Its  trustworthiness  and  its  purpose. — Thus  although 
the  Acts  is  our  only  "source"  for  the  earliest  period  of 
the  church's  history,  we  have  great  confidence  in  its 
narratives,  for  its  author,  Luke,  was  a  careful,  accurate, 
faithful  student  and  historian  of  the  period,  who  loved 
the  church  whose  story  he  tells,  and  who  himself  shared 
in  the  great  movement  which  brought  it  out  of  an 
upper  room  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  and  planted  it  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  empire.  Moreover,  he  personally 
knew  the  great  men  who  led  this  movement.  As  a 
Gentile,  a  physician,  a  student  and  lover  of  literature,  a 
citizen  of  the  world,  he  was  able  to  see  the  events  of  the 
past  generation  in  true  perspective;  and  he  was  proud 
to  trace  the  great  expansion  of  Christianity  in  those 
fifty  years  since  the  crucifixion. 

For  that  was  his  object  in  writing — to  show  Chris- 
tianity expanding  as  the  new  world-religion,  divinely 
revealed,  spreading  until  it  fiUed  every  part  of  the 
known  world,  deserving  the  esteem  and  protection  of 


44    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  emperor  rather  than  the  persecution  which  was  then 
breaking  out,  in  the  days  of  Domitian. 

Condition  of  the  church  described. — And  although 
"Acts  of  the  Apostles"  is  its  title,  it  does  not  give  all  of 
the  acts  of  all  of  the  apostles.  Peter  and  Paul  are  the 
chief  characters  in  the  story;  John  and  James  and  the 
others  take  very  minor  parts.  Nevertheless,  it  gives  us 
enough  to  present  a  fairly  clear  picture  of  the  condition 
of  the  church  in  those  far-off  days  of  its  existence.  For 
instance,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  account  of  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  the  following  picture  is  sketched: 

"And  they  continued  stedfastly  in  the  apostles* 
teaching  and  fellowship,  in  the  breaking  of  bread 
and  in  prayers. 

"And  fear  came  upon  every  soul;  and  many  won- 
ders and  signs  were  performed  through  the  apos- 
tles. And  all  they  that  believed  were  together  and 
had  all  things  common;  and  they  sold  their  posses- 
sions and  goods  and  parted  them  to  all,  according  as 
any  man  had  need.  And  day  by  day,  continuing 
stedfastly  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  break- 
ing bread  at  home,  they  partook  their  food  with 
gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God  and 
having  favor  with  all  the  people.  And  the  Lord 
added  to  them  day  by  day  those  that  were  being 
saved." — ^Acts  2 :  42-47. 

The  simplicity  of  Ufe,  the  earnestness  and  devotion  of 
the  early  Christians  in  Jerusalem  are  quite  apparent  in 
this  picture. 

THE  BEGGAR  AT  THE  BEAUTIFUL  GATE 

One  of  their  visits  to  the  Temple  is  described  in  the 
very  next  chapter — a  visit  which  had  important  conse- 
quences for  the  disciples. 


PETER  AND  JOHN  IN  THE  TEMPLE      45 

Not  alms  but  restoration. — Peter  and  John  were 
going  up  to  the  Temple  at  one  of  the  hours  of  prayer, 
about  three  in  the  afternoon.  Now  there  was  a  man 
who  had  been  lame  from  birth  who  was  laid  each  day 
beside  the  ''door  of  the  temple  which  is  called  Beauti- 
ful," to  ask  alms  of  those  who  passed  through.  Seeing 
Peter  and  John  about  to  enter,  he  asked  them  for  alms. 
But  the  apostles  had  no  money;  and,  moreover,  the 
lame  man  really  needed  something  else  far  more  than 
money.  Peter  remembered  the  way  in  which  Jesus  had 
restored  the  helpless,  instead  of  doling  out  alms;  he 
remembered  also  the  Master's  command  to  *'heal  the 
sick."  So  he  turned  and,  gazing  directly  at  him,  com- 
manded, "Look  at  us!"  The  beggar  of  course  expected 
to  receive  some  money  and  readily  complied.  Instead, 
Peter  said  to  him:  ''Silver  and  gold  have  I  none;  but 
such  as  I  have  will  I  give  you!  In  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Nazareth,  walk!"  Then,  taking  him  by  the 
right  hand,  he  raised  him  up.  At  once  his  feet  and 
ankles  grew  strong,  and  leaping  up  he  first  stood,  then 
began  to  walk  freely,  and  entered  the  Temple,  walking 
and  leaping  and  praising  God.  The  people  were  amazed 
when  they  saw  him,  for  everyone  recognized  him  as  the 
man  who  had  sat  for  years  begging  alms  beside  the 
Temple  gate — and  now  he  was  walking  about  and 
praising  God  for  his  restoration! 

Peter's  address  to  the  people. — Filled  with  wonder 
and  amazement,  the  people  crowded  into  the  portico 
called  Solomon's  Porch,  along  the  eastern  side  of  the 
outer  court,  and  waited  to  see  what  would  happen  next. 
Then  Peter,  as  usual  seizing  the  occasion,  addressed 
them  in  simple,  outspoken  language. 

"Men  of  Israel,  why  do  you  marvel  at  this,  as  if  it 
were  some  portent?    Or  why  gaze  at  us,  as  if  by  our 


46    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

own  power  or  piety  we  had  made  the  man  walk? 
The  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob,  the 
God  of  our  fathers,  has  glorified  his  Servant  Jesus — 
whom  you  delivered  up  and  denied  before  Pilate, 
when  he  was  determined  to  release  him.  You  de- 
nied the  Holy  and  Righteous  One  (the  Messiah), 
asking  for  a  murderer  to  be  released  in  his  stead. 
You  killed  the  Prince  of  Life!  But  God  raised  him 
from  the  dead,  whose  witnesses  we  are.  And  it 
was  by  faith  in  his  name  that  this  man  was  made 
strong,  whom  you  yourselves  see  and  know;  yes, 
that  faith  which  is  through  him  has  brought  this  to 
pass  in  your  very  presence!" — ^Acts  3: 12-16. 

Then  he  continues  with  an  appeal  to  the  consciences  of 
his  hearers. 

"Brethren,  I  know  that  it  was  in  ignorance  that 
you  crucified  Jesus,  as  did  your  rulers.  Therefore 
repent,  and  turn  again,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted 
out  .  .  .  and  that  God  may  send  you  tiie  Messiah 
who  has  been  appointed,  even  Jesus:  who  must 
remain  in  heaven  until  the  times  of  restoration  of 
all  things,  foretold  by  the  prophets.  .  .  .  And  in- 
stead of  a  curse,  for  your  rejection  of  the  Messiah. 
God  has  in  fact  raised  up  his  Servant  and  sent  him 
to  bless  you,  in  turning  away  every  one  of  you  from 
your  iniquities." — ^Acts  3 :  17-26. 

BEFORE  THE  COUNCIL 

At  this  moment  the  chief  priests  and  captain  of  the 
Temple  (the  head  of  the  Temple  police)  and  certain  of 
the  Sadducees,  having  heard  the  commotion,  came  upon 
them.  These  were  members  of  the  same  group  which 
had  put  Jesus  to  death.  They  were  determined  to  stamp 
out  the  growing  movement  of  his  followers  before  any- 


PETER  AND  JOHN  IN  THE  TEMPLE      47 

thing  further  came  of  it.  Now  to  find  his  disciples  still 
in  the  Temple,  actually  addressing  and  teaching  the 
people  (this  was  the  priests'  prerogative),  and  telling 
them  about  his  resurrection  from  the  dead  (which 
seemed  nonsense  to  the  Sadducees) — this  was  too  much! 
So  they  laid  hands  upon  Peter  and  John  and  shut  them 
up  in  prison  for  the  night. 

Nevertheless,  Peter's  words  had  not  been  without 
effect.  "Many  of  them  that  heard  the  word  beHeved; 
and  the  number  of  the  believers  came  to  be  about  five 
thousand."  All  men  "glorified  God  for  that  which  was 
done,"  for  the  lame  man  was  over  forty  years  old,  and 
the  story  of  his  restoration  had  a  great  effect  upon  all 
who  heard  it. 

"By  what  power  or  in  what  name?" — The  next 
morning  the  "rulers  and  elders  and  scribes"  held  a  meet- 
ing to  consider  what  should  be  done  with  Peter  and 
John.  "Annas  the  high  priest  was  there,  and  Caiphas 
and  John  and  Alexander,  and  as  many  as  were  of  the 
kindred  of  the  high  priest" — the  very  ones  who  had 
conducted  the  false  "trial"  at  which  Jesus  had  been 
condemned  to  death. 

The  first  question  which  they  asked  the  apostles 
was  this:  "By  what  power  or  in  what  name  have 
you  done  this?"  That  is,  they  assumed  the  apostles  to 
be  workers  of  magic,  possessed  of  some  supernatural 
"power"  made  effective  by  pronouncing  some  par- 
ticular "name"  or  formula  over  people.  To  this  ques- 
tion Peter,  being  naturally  the  spokesman,  answered 
boldly, 

"Rulers  of  the  people,  and  elders,  if  we  are  now 
to  be  brought  into  court  and  publicly  examined  for 
doing  a  good  deed  to  a  helpless  man,  let  it  be  known 
to  you  and  to  all  Israel  that  in  the  *name'  of  the 


48    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Messiah,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  you  crucified,  and 
whom  God  raised  from  the  dead — in  his  name  this 
man  stands  here  before  you  sound  and  well." — ^Acts 
4:9-10. 

The  boldness  of  the  apostles. — ^This  was  a  brave 
answer  as  well  as  a  true  one.  The  two  Galilaean  fisher- 
men stood  helpless  in  the  presence  of  their  bitterest  and 
most  powerful  enemies,  the  enemies  who  had  put  their 
Master  to  death  only  a  short  time  ago  and  were  now 
determined  to  spare  no  pains  in  annihilating  the  faith  of 
his  followers.  "When  they  beheld  the  boldness  of  Peter 
and  John,"  Luke  says,  "and  perceived  that  they  were 
unlearned  and  ignorant  men,  they  marveled;  and  they 
took  knowledge  of  them,  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus" 
(Acts  4:  13).  Moreover,  seeing  that  the  man  who  had 
been  healed  was  even  then  standing  beside  them,  grate- 
ful for  their  goodness  to  him,  they  could  say  nothing 
against  it. 

So  they  ordered  the  prisoners  taken  out  of  the  court, 
and  conferred  among  themselves.  It  was  impossible  to 
deny  that  the  miracle  had  taken  place,  for  everyone  in 
Jerusalem  now  knew  about  it.  Nor  was  there  any 
charge  which  could  be  brought  against  the  disciples,  such 
as  magic  or  witchcraft  or  an  injury  done  to  the  lame 
man.  Their  only  course  was  to  threaten  the  apostles 
and  order  them  to  cease  teaching  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
or  using  his  name  to  heal  the  sick. 

Recalling  Peter  and  John  into  the  council,  they  gave 
them  this  charge.  But  the  apostles  immediately  an- 
swered: "Whether  it  is  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to 
obey  you  rather  than  God,  you  must  judge.  For  our 
part,  we  cannot  but  speak  the  things  that  we  have  seen 
and  heard." 


PETER  AND  JOHN   IN  THE  TEMPLE      49 

The  prayers  of  the  church. — Being  released,  the  two 
apostles  returned  to  the  upper  room  and  reported  all 
that  had  occurred  in  the  council  chamber.  When  the 
story  had  been  told,  the  whole  band  knelt  down  and 
prayed  for  strength  and  guidance  in  the  persecution 
which  seemed  presently  coming  upon  them.  "And  now, 
Lord,  look  upon  their  threatenings ;  and  grant  unto  thy 
servants  to  speak  thy  word  with  all  boldness,  while  thou 
stretchest  forth  thy  hand  to  heal;  that  signs  and  wonders 
may  be  done  through  the  name  of  thy  holy  Servant 
Jesus"  (Acts  4:  29-30). 

And  when  they  had  prayed,  the  place  was  shaken 
wherein  they  were  gathered  together,  and  they  were  all 
filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  spoke  the  word  of  God 
with  boldness.  It  was  another  Pentecost,  with  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  manifest  among  them.  In  the  midst  of 
danger  and  threatened  persecution  they  had  the  assur- 
ance of  God's  favor  and  presence.  If  their  enemies  could 
"take  knowledge  of  them,  that  they  had  been  with 
Jesus,"  they  themselves  were  no  less  conscious  of  being 
in  his  presence  still,  through  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  gave 
them  courage  in  proclaiming  "the  word." 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Tell  how  the  history  of  the  earliest  days  of  Chris- 

tianity has  come  down  to  us. 

2.  Turn  to  the  diagram  in  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  fac- 

ing page  193,  and  locate  the  Beautiful  Gate,  Solomon's 
Porch,  and  the  Sanhedrin's  Council  Chamber. 

3.  Recall  the  reference  to  the  Beautiful  Gate  in  "The 

Vision  of  Sir  Launfal."    Can  you  quote  it? 

4.  Who  were  the  Sadducees?    Recall  from  your  study  of 

the  Life  of  Christ,  or  look  up  in  the  Bible  dictionary. 
What  distinguished  them  from  the  Pharisees? 


50    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

5.  Read  carefully  Peter's  sermon  at  the  Temple,  and 

analyze  it  in  the  way  his  first  sermon  was  treated  in 
Chapter  III. 

6.  Study  carefully  the  prayer  of  the  apostles  (Acts  4: 

24-30).  Note  that  quotations  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  found  in  all  the  apostles'  utterances:  their 
minds  were  steeped  in  scripture.  Note  that  the 
current  Jewish  belief  in  predestination  is  taken  for 
granted,  and  compare  Peter's  words  in  Acts  2:  23. 
What  did  they  ask  for  in  this  prayer,  personal  safety 
or  the  spread  of  God's  work?  Of  what  value  were 
**signs  and  wonders"  in  their  situation? 

7.  Read  Acts  3  and  4  and  make  a  list  of  the  titles  given 

to  Jesus  therein. 

8.  How  did  men  explain  the  boldness  of  the  apostles  in 

testifying  for  their  faith?  Should  their  example 
inspire  us  to  Hke  courage?  And  does  the  explanation 
of  their  "boldness"  suggest  how  we  too  may  become 
courageous?  Name  some  ways  in  which  we  ought 
to  be  bold  witnesses  for  Christ. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH 

The  church  in  Jerusalem  had  a  remarkably  sudden 
growth  at  the  first.  From  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
who  were  gathered  together  between  Passover  and  the 
day  of  Pentecost  the  number  had  grown  until  now  it 
included  thousands  (Acts  1:15;  2:4i;4:4).  There  was 
no  better  place  than  Jerusalem,  with  its  sojourners  and 
proselytes  from  every  nation,  in  which  to  proclaim  the 
message  of  Jesus'  Messiahship;  there  was  no  better  time 
than  those  weeks  in  spring  and  early  summer  when  vast 
throngs  of  pilgrims  filled  the  city.  Moreover,  in  Jeru- 
salem people  had  either  heard  Jesus  himself  teach  in 
the  Temple,  or  had  at  least  heard  about  him  and  his 
message  and  his  unjust  condemnation  by  the  authorities. 
It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  ''the  multitude  of  the 
disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem  exceedingly''— even 
some  of  the  priests  were  converted  (Acts  6 : 7)  and 
Levites  (Acts  4: 36). 

"all  things  common" 

In  a  city  filled  with  strangers,  a  holy  city  of  pilgrims, 
without  sufficient  natural  industries  to  support  it  and 
not  well  located  for  commerce,  it  was  only  natural  that 
there  should  be  many  poor.  Old  persons  who  had  saved 
barely  enough  to  keep  them  till  they  died,  and  who  had 
come  here  to  live  near  the  Temple  (Luke  2:  25,  36,  38); 
priestly  families  returning  from  the  Dispersion,  or  those 
whose  land  had  been  sold  or  confiscated  by  the  govern- 
ment— such  people  were  found  in  abundance  in  the  city, 

51 


52    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  care  of  the  poor. — Many  such  persons  were 
found  among  the  "multitude  of  the  disciples";  and  it  is 
noteworthy  that  the  Christian  Church,  which  has  taught 
the  world  the  practice  of  charity,  was  even  thus  early 
busy  with  the  care  of  its  poorer  members. 

"And  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of 
one  heart  and  soul;  and  not  one  of  them  said  that 
any  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own; 
but  they  had  all  things  in  common.  And  with  great 
power  gave  the  apostles  their  witness  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and  great  grace  was  upon 
them  all.  For  neither  was  there  any  among  them 
that  lacked ;  for  as  many  as  were  possessors  of  lands 
or  houses  sold  them,  and  brought  the  price  of  the 
things  sold  and  laid  it  at  the  apostles*  feet;  and 
distribution  was  made  unto  each,  according  as  any 
had  need." — Acts  4: 32-35- 

This  was  not  ''communism,"  such  as  has  been  prac- 
ticed in  Russia  under  the  Bolshevists  and  elsewhere 
from  time  to  time  in  human  history.  It  was  not  an 
attempt  to  carry  out  an  economic  ''program."  It  was, 
rather,  simple  charity,  under  the  strong  impulse  of  a 
feeling  of  brotherhood  as  the  disciples  of  a  common 
Master,  and  with  the  expectation  of  the  immediate  re- 
turn of  Jesus  in  glory  (when  earthly  property  would  be 
no  longer  valuable).  That  the  condition  did  not  long 
continue  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  a  few  years  later 
Saint  Paul  took  up  a  collection  of  money  in  the  churches 
of  Asia  and  Greece  for  the  poor  "saints  which  are  at 
Jerusalem"  (Romans  15:  26).  Failure  no  doubt  resulted 
from  the  using  up  of  all  money  derived  from  the  sale  of 
property,  so  that  in  the  end  the  Jerusalem  Christians 
were  left  with  neither  property  nor  funds.   But  who  shaU 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH  53 

say  that  their  charity  was  mistaken?  It  was  not  long 
before  the  property,  and,  indeed,  the  lives,  of  disciples 
were  jeopardized  by  persecution.  Their  wealth,  such  as 
it  was,  was  better  spent  upon  the  poor,  as  the  Master 
counseled  (Luke  18:  22),  than  hoarded  and  finally  lost. 

Barnabas*  gift. — Among  those  who  sold  their  land 
and  brought  the  money  to  the  apostles  for  distribution 
to  the  needy  was  Joseph  Barnabas.  Though  a  native 
of  Cyprus,  he  was  a  Levite,  that  is,  a  descendant  of  the 
house  of  Levi,  whose  office  it  was  to  assist  the  priests  in 
the  Temple,  to  sing  or  blow  trumpets  at  the  sacrifices, 
and  to  serve  as  wardens  or  guards  of  the  sacred  edifice. 
The  Levites  had  received,  after  the  exile,  an  apportion- 
ment of  land  to  the  north  and  west  of  Jerusalem;  and 
Barnabas'  field  must  have  been  his  patrimony,  inherited 
by  his  family  from  those  far-off  days.  It  was  the  generous 
gift  of  a  man  sincerely  in  earnest.  We  shall  not  be  sur- 
prised, therefore,  to  hear  more  of  him  later  on. 

Ananias  and  Sapphira. — In  contrast  to  the  gen- 
erosity of  Barnabas  and  others  like  him,  the  story  con- 
tinues with  the  incident  of  two  persons,  Ananias  and 
his  wife  Sapphira,  who  sold  some  property  and  kept 
back  part  of  the  price,  pretending  to  have  given  it  all. 
Peter  knew  of  their  deception,  and  when  Ananias  came 
in  he  rebuked  him  sternly.  He  did  not  censure  him  for 
selling  the  land,  or  for  keeping  back  part  of  the  money, 
but  for  pretending  to  have  given  the  whole  when  in 
truth  he  gave  only  a  part:  "How  is  it  that  you  have 
conceived  this  scheme?  You  have  not  lied  to  men  but 
to  Godl" 

So  great  was  the  shock  of  discovery  that  the  man  fell 
to  the  ground  and  died.  Not  long  afterward  Sapphira 
came  in.  Peter  asked  her  if  she  had  sold  the  land  for 
such-and-such   a  price.     She   answered,    *'Yes,   for   so 


54    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

much."  Peter  sternly  rebuked  her  also — "Why  have 
you  agreed  to  tempt  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  in  this  way? 
Behold,  the  feet  of  them  that  have  carried  your  husband 
out  dead  are  at  the  door — and  they  shall  carry  you  out 
too!"  At  that  she  likewise  fell  down  and  died. 

This  event  filled  with  awe  the  hearts  of  the  behevers. 
It  seemed  the  very  beginning  of  the  divine  judgment 
upon  deceivers.  It  was  the  miraculous  and  immediate 
punishment,  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  upon  those 
who  had  tried  to  "play  too  safe,"  to  worship  both  God 
and  Mammon,  to  deceive  the  brotherhood,  playing  false 
to  the  spirit  of  charity,  aiming  to  get  credit  for  generosity 
and  unselfishness  and  at  the  same  time  enjoy  the  posses- 
sion of  at  least  a  part  of  their  property  should  the  King- 
dom finally  fail  to  appear.  The  crime  and  its  swift 
punishment  left  a  deep  impression  upon  the  early  church, 
as  we  must  infer  from  the  preservation  of  this  anecdote 
among  the  earhest  stories  of  the  community  in  Jeru- 
salem. 

Healing  the  sick. — Jesus  had  not  only  commanded 
his  disciples  to  preach  the  gospel;  he  had  also  bidden 
them  heal  the  sick  (Luke  9: 1-6;  10:9;  etc.).  It  now 
seemed  that  the  ministry  of  the  Master  himself  was 
being  continued  through  the  apostles. 

"By  the  hands  of  the  apostles  were  many  signs 
and  wonders  wrought  among  the  people;  and  they 
were  all  of  one  accord  in  Solomon's  Porch.  But 
of  the  rest  durst  no  man  join  himself  to  them.  How- 
beit  the  people  magnified  them,  and  believers  were 
the  more  added  to  the  Lord,  multitudes  both  of 
men  and  women;  insomuch  that  they  even  carried 
out  the  sick  into  the  streets,  and  laid  them  on  beds 
and  couches,  that,  as  Peter  came  by,  at  least  his 
shadow  might  fall  over  some  of  them.    And  there 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH  55 

also  came  together  the  multitude  from  the  cities 
round  about  Jerusalem,  bringing  sick  folk  and  those 
who  were  vexed  with  unclean  spirits;  and  they  were 
all  healed."— Acts  5: 12-16. 

Nothing  convinced  men  more  completely  of  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  than  the  manifest  power  which  accom- 
panied its  preaching,  power  to  heal  the  sick  and  exorcize 
evil  spirits. 

RENEWED  OPPOSITION 

The  movement  was  now  spreading  so  rapidly,  the 
popularity  of  the  apostles  was  increasing  to  such  a  wide 
extent,  that  the  high  priest  and  the  party  of  the  Saddu- 
cees  (who  had,  as  we  said,  direct  oversight  of  the 
Temple)  "were  filled  with  jealousy,  and  laid  hands  on 
the  apostles  and  put  them  in  public  ward"  once  more. 

Preaching  in  the  Temple. — But  in  the  night  they 
were  mysteriously  released — the  story  says,  "An  angel 
of  the  Lord  opened  the  prison  doors,  and  brought 
them  out  and  said,  'Go,  stand  and  speak  to  the  people 
in  the  temple  all  the  words  of  this  Life.'  "  As  soon  as 
the  Temple  gates  were  opened  in  the  morning,  therefore, 
the  apostles  entered  and  began  to  teach. 

Meanwhile  the  Sanhedrin  had  been  assembled  by  the 
high  priest  and  his  associates,  in  order  that  legal  process 
might  be  taken  against  the  leaders  of  the  new  movement, 
for  if  this  enthusiastic  new  faith  progressed,  the  time 
would  come,  they  felt,  when  the  nation  would  be  further 
embroiled  with  Rome.  For  "Messianism,"  the  dream  of 
the  coming  kingdom  of  God,  meant  nothing  to  the 
Sadducees  but  social  unrest,  refusal  of  the  tribute,  and 
armed  revolt. 

Sending  for  the  prisoners,  what  was  their  surprise  to 
find   the  jail  locked   and   guarded  but  empty!    The 


56    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

apostles  had  escaped  during  the  night!  And  what 
was  their  further  surprise  to  find  that  the  men, 
instead  of  fleeing  the  city,  were  actually  once  more 
in  the  Temple,  teaching  the  people  their  forbidden 
doctrine ! 

The  Temple  police  were  at  once  dispatched  to  bring 
them  into  court,  which  they  did  without  show  of  violence 
— for  fear  the  people  might  stone  them. 

Once  more  before  the  coimcil. — The  high  priest  re- 
minded them  of  his  former  charge:  "We  strictly  com- 
manded you  not  to  teach  in  this  name;  and  behold,  you 
have  filled  Jerusalem  with  your  teaching  and  intend  to 
bring  this  man's  blood  upon  us!"  To  this  Peter  and  the 
others  replied,  just  as  on  their  former  appearance  before 
the  council,  "We  must  obey  God." 

"We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men.  The  God 
of  our  fathers  raised  up  Jesus,  whom  ye  slew,  hang- 
ing him  on  a  tree.  Him  did  God  exalt  at  his  right 
hand  to  be  Prince  and  Saviour,  to  give  repentance 
to  Israel,  and  remission  of  sins.  And  we  are  wit- 
nesses of  these  things;  and  so  is  the  Holy  Spirit, 
whom  God  has  given  to  them  that  obey  him." — Acts 
5:30-32. 

This  was  their  simple,  straightforward  teaching,  and  it 
furnished  their  answer  to  the  court.  This  is  what  they 
had  been  teaching  the  people  in  the  Temple.  And  they 
had  nothing  different  to  offer  the  learned  rabbis  when 
brought  to  trial  for  their  preaching. 

GamaliePs  advice. — The  Sadducees  were  com- 
pletely incensed  by  their  simple  statement.  The  mention 
of  Jesus'  Messiahship,  his  resurrection  and  exaltation, 
the  "remission  of  sins"  through  him  and  not  through  the 
Temple  sacrifices,  the  experience  of  the  Holy  Spirit — all 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH  57 

this  was  contrary  to  the  authoritative  teaching  of 
Judaism  as  the  Sadducees  understood  and  taught  it. 
Above  all,  the  assertion  that  the  one  whom  God  raised 
from  the  dead  and  exalted  was  the  one  whom  they  had 
put  to  death — this  ^'cut  them  to  the  heart,  and  they 
were  minded  to  slay  them." 

But  there  was  one  sane  and  prudent  man  on  the 
council,  the  great  Pharisaic  scholar  Gamaliel,  the  teacher 
of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  a  man  not  only  learned  in  the  Law  but 
also  honored  by  all  the  people.  He  asked  the  removal 
of  the  prisoners  from  the  court  and  then  made  an  ad- 
dress to  the  council.  It  was  an  appeal  for  clemency  and 
moderation.  He  reminded  them  that  all  such  move- 
ments as  this  one  seemed  to  be  died  away  of  their  own 
accord  in  time.  Theudas,  with  his  four  hundred  fol- 
lowers, Judas  of  Galilee  in  the  days  of  the  census,  were 
examples  of  misguided  enthusiasts  who,  sooner  or  later, 
brought  themselves  and  their  followers  to  disaster. 

"And  now  I  say,  refrain  from  these  men  and  let 
them  alone.  If  tiiis  movement  is  of  human  origin 
[let  us  assume  that  it  is]  it  will  end  soon  enough,  but 
if  it  is  from  God,  you  will  not  be  able  to  hinder  it — 
and  beware  lest  you  are  found  opposing  him!" — 
Acts  5 :  38-39- 

To  this  the  Sanhedrin  partly  agreed.  When  they  had 
called  the  apostles  and  beaten  them  with  stripes,  they 
charged  them  once  more  to  cease  teaching  in  the  name 
of  Jesus,  and  let  them  go.  ''They  therefore  departed 
from  the  presence  of  the  council,  rejoicing  that  they 
were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  dishonor  for  the  Name. 
And  every  day,  in  the  Temple  and  at  home,  they  ceased 
not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  as  the  Messiah"  (Acts  5: 
41,  42). 


58    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

It  is  evident  that  persecution,  suffering,  even  the 
danger  of  death  was  not  to  hinder  the  testimony  of  the 
apostles,  or  destroy  their  faith  in  their  Lord.  Upon  such 
a  rock  of  courage  and  faith,  strong  as  granite,  the  Chris- 
tian Church  was  built:  and  "the  gates  of  death"  were 
not  going  to  "prevail  against  it." 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up  "Levites"  in  the  Bible  dictionary.     What 

were  their  duties? 

2.  Who  was  Barnabas?    Where  was  he  bom?    Find  the 

place  on  the  map. 

3.  How  does  the  story  in  Acts  explain  the  modem  epithet 

''Ananias"?  What  must  have  been  the  man's  state 
of  mind  to  be  so  violently  affected  by  Peter's  rebuke? 

4.  Have  you  ever  heard  of  any  modem  parallels  to  the 

"faith  healing"  of  the  apostles'  days? — for  example, 
at  the  grotto  of  Lourdes;  Sainte  Anne  de  Beaupr^; 
or  the  work  of  Mr.  Hickson  and  other  Christian 
healers.  Remember  that  Jews  and  Christians  look 
upon  the  physician's  skill  as  a  gift  from  God,  just 
as  important  as  the  faith  which  makes  for  health. 
See  Ecclesiasticus  38. 

5.  What  especially  angered  the  Sadducees,  and  incensed 

them  against  the  teaching  of  the  apostles?  Was 
this  the  same  party  that  had  opposed  otu"  Lord  in 
his  ministry?  How  had  they  taken  action  against 
him? 

6.  The  Pharisee  Gamaliel  was  a  representative  of  the 

better  side  of  Judaism  in  the  first  centtuy.  Look 
up  some  other  examples  described  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment: John  the  Baptist's  parents  (Luke  1-2);  Sim- 
eon and  Anna;  the  scribe  "not  far  from  the  kingdom 
of  God"  (Mark  12:  28-34);  the  widow  in  the  Tem- 
ple (Luke  21:  1-4);  Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  "a  coun- 
cilor" (Luke  23:  50-52).    We  must  not  forget  these 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH  59 

examples,  or  the  fact  that  the  earliest  Christians, 
the  apostles  and  their  followers,  were — ^like  Jesus 
himself — of  Jewish  blood.  How  should  this  affect 
our  attitude  toward  members  of  their  race  to-day? 
And  does  the  principle  hold  true  of  otir  attitude 
toward  still  other  races? 
Name  some  wa^^s  in  which  your  church  cares  for  the 
poor  and  the  sick.  Do  you  have  a  share  m  this 
work? 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  MARTYR 

An  important  part  of  the  care  of  the  poor  in  the  early 
*^tirch  consisted  in  the  support  of  poverty-stricken 
widows.  There  were  no  Homes  for  the  Aged  in  those 
days,  no  life  insurance  companies,  no  Societies  for  the 
Care  of  Widows  and  Orphans.  Consequently,  when  a 
man  died  and  left  a  wife  and  family,  they  were  cast 
upon  the  charity  of  their  relatives  or  neighbors — unless 
the  family  happened  to  be  rich.  Among  the  Jews,  a 
systematic  provision  for  needy  widows  and  orphans  had 
been  undertaken  by  the  synagogues,  and  "charity"  in 
the  sense  of  benefaction  was  a  recognized  and  highly 
praised  virtue,  called  "almsgiving." 

THE  CHOICE  OF  THE  SEVEN 

As  the  body  of  disciples  and  believers  in  Jesus  con- 
tinued to  increase,  there  naturally  were  added  many 
who  had  heretofore  been  dependent  upon  the  benevo- 
lence of  their  neighbors.  These  the  church  undertook  to 
provide  for,  even  as  the  synagogue  had  done. 

The  "daily  ministration." — But  with  several  thou- 
sand beHevers  now  gathered  together  in  Jerusalem 
it  is  not  strange  that  the  apostles  found  difficulty  in 
caring  for  the  poor  in  this  number.  It  was  not  long  be- 
fore the  "Hellenists" — Jews  who  had  been  born  in  other 
provinces  than  Judaea,  in  the  Greek  world  outside  the 
Holy  Land — complained  that  the  widows  in  their  group 
were  being  neglected  in  favor  of  the  "Hebrews"  (those 
born  in  Palestine).  This  slight  may  have  been  as  natural 

60 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  MARTYR  6i 

as  it  was  unintentional :  the  foreign-born  Jews,  not  feel- 
ing quite  at  home  in  Jerusalem,  perhaps  not  speaking 
Aramaic  fluently  (and  there  may  even  have  been  pros- 
elytes from  other  races  among  them),  would  not  make 
their  needs  known  as  readily  as  those  familiar  with  the 
methods  of  distribution. 

Seven  helpers  appointed. — This  complaint  soon 
reached  the  ears  of  the  Twelve.  They  at  once  called  a 
meeting  of  the  disciples  and  said, 

"It  is  not  right  for  us  to  abandon  the  preaching  of 
the  word  of  God  and  serve  tables!  Therefore, 
brethren,  choose  from  among  you  seven  men  of 
good  report,  men  full  of  the  Spirit  and  of  wisdom, 
whom  we  may  give  charge  of  this  business.  For 
our  part,  we  will  continue  stedfastly  in  prayer  and 
the  ministry  of  the  word." — Acts  6: 2-4. 

The  whole  multitude  was  pleased  at  this  proposal,  and 
chose  the  following  seven:  Stephen,  "a  man  full  of  faith 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit";  Philip,  of  whom  we  shall  hear 
more  anon;  Prochorus,  Nicanor,  Timon,  Parmenas;  and 
Nicolas,  a  proselyte  from  Antioch.  As  their  Greek 
names  imply,  these  seven  men  were  probably  all  "Hellen- 
ists," men  born  outside  Judaea.  They  were  brought  be- 
fore the  apostles,  who,  when  they  had  prayed,  laid  their 
hands  on  their  heads.  This  was  the  customary  Jewish 
rite  of  ordination  or  appointment  to  some  sacred  office. 

We  do  not  know  whether  or  not  this  solution  of  the 
difficulty  was  satisfactory.  No  doubt  it  was,  for  we  hear 
no  more  of  complaints  from  the  friends  of  the  Hellenist 
widows.  Instead,  we  read  that  "the  word  of  God  in- 
creased, and  the  number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  in 
Jerusalem  exceedingly  and  a  great  company  of  the 
priests  were  obedient  to   the   faith"   (Acts  6:7).    It 


62    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

showed  great  confidence  in  their  fellow  believers  and  a 
truly  Christian  spirit  of  brotherhood  for  the  Jewish-bom 
apostles  in  Jerusalem  to  appoint  over  an  important 
activity  of  the  church  men  who  were  either  Gentile 
proselytes  or  Jews  born  in  foreign  lands. 

THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  STEPHEN 

Nevertheless,  new  troubles  soon  developed,  troubles 
of  far  greater  magnitude,  but  still  begun  among  the 
"HeUenists." 

Disputing  in  the  synagogue. — It  seems  that  the 
disciples,  although  they  were  believers  in  Jesus,  were 
still  worshiping  just  as  they  had  always  done  as  Jews 
in  the  synagogue  and  Temple.  Their  worship  in  the 
upper  room  or  in  other  gatherings  among  themselves 
was  in  addition  to  the  strict  and  faithful  observance  of 
the  Law  and  its  customs.  Now,  there  were  in  Jerusalem 
a  number  of  synagogues  where  the  Hellenists  worshiped 
—such  as  the  synagogues  of  the  Cyrenians,  the  Alex- 
andrians, the  Cilicians,  the  Ephesians,  and  so  on. 
Stephen,  one  of  the  Seven,  aroused  great  interest  in  these 
synagogues  with  his  fiery  and  convincing  addresses  and 
the  "great  wonders  and  signs"  (probably  the  healmg  of 
sickness,  mainly)  which  he  performed  among  the  people. 
Opponents  now  arose  to  dispute  with  him  in  the  syn- 
agogue— it  was  the  Jewish  custom  to  permit  debates 
within  the  sacred  edifice.  But  his  opponents  always 
found  themselves  beaten  by  his  arguments.  The  contro- 
versy became  more  and  more  bitter,  and,  since  they 
were  not  able  to  overcome  him  in  debate,  they  undertook 
to  discredit  him  in  other  ways.  They  "suborned"  cer- 
tain men,  that  is,  they  secretly  engaged  them  as  false 
witnesses,  who  testified,  "We  have  heard  him  speak 
blasphemous  words  against  Moses  and  against  God." 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  MARTYR  63 

Stephen  brought  to  trial. — They  further  "stirred  up 
the  people  and  the  elders  and  the  scribes,"  and  seized 
him  and  brought  him  before  the  high  priest's  council,  or 
Sanhedrin.  The  "witnesses"  now  testified  that  they  had 
heard  him  "speak  against  this  holy  place  (the  Temple) 
and  the  Law;  for  we  have  heard  him  say  that  this  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this  place  and  change  the 
customs  which  Moses  delivered  to  us."  How  much  of 
truth  there  was  in  this  testimony  we  cannot  say.  Stephen 
was  a  zealous  young  man,  full  of  spirit,  enthusiastic  and 
earnest;  but  he  had  probably  not  been  a  Christian  long, 
and  his  zeal  was  not  tempered  by  careful  consideration 
of  his  words.  The  "witnesses"  may  easily  have  dis- 
covered some  foundation  for  their  garbled  testimony. 

The  high  priest's  interrogation  was  solemn  and 
dignified:   "Are  these  things  so?" 

Stephen  began  his  reply  in  a  manner  calculated  to  win 
his  hearers'  approval.  It  was  a  defense  worthy  an 
ecclesiastical  lawyer.  It  was  a  long  address,  filling  most 
of  chapter  seven  of  the  book  of  Acts.  He  began  with 
the  beginning  of  Hebrew  history,  the  call  of  Abraham 
and  his  journey  to  Canaan,  the  story  of  Joseph  in  Egypt, 
Jacob's  journey  thither,  his  death  and  burial,  the  oppres- 
sion in  Egypt,  Moses'  birth,  education,  flight  into 
Midian,  and  so  on.  One  would  think  he  meant  to  cover 
the  whole  Old  Testament  in  his  speech.  But  we  must 
remember  not  only  that  his  hearers  loved  to  be  reminded 
of  the  story  of  their  nation's  sacred  past,  and  would 
not  feel  wearied  at  such  a  narrative;^  but  also  that 
Stephen  in  this  way  very  artfully  refuted  the  charge 
against  him.  Instead  of  blaspheming  Moses  and  the 
Law,  as  the  "witnesses"  said,  he  was  showing  the  pro- 

1  See  Psalm  78,  which  was  sung  in  temple  or  synagogue;  and,  in  the  New 
Testament,  as  a  Christian-Jewish  example,  Hebrews  11. 


64    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

foundest  respect  for  both,  and  the  intensest,  most  loving 
loyalty  to  the  nation,  "the  people  of  the  Law."  His 
patriotism  was  manifest  in  every  word. 

But  as  he  went  on  his  tone  changed.  It  may  be  that 
Luke  has  omitted  (between  verses  50  and  51)  something 
from  his  source,  for  the  conclusion  of  the  speech  is  ex- 
ceedingly abrupt.  Or  it  may  be  that  his  hearers  refused 
to  listen  to  a  long,  oratorical  defense  when  they  wanted 
only  to  know  whether  or  not  he  was  a  conspirator 
against  the  Law  or  the  Temple.  At  least,  he  went  on 
by  pointing  out  that  the  nation  had  repeatedly  dis- 
obeyed God's  commands,  and  rejected  his  messengers, 
the  prophets:  even  Moses  they  had  disobeyed,  and  a 
Temple  they  had  built  for  the  God  who  had  no  need  of 
it,  for  "He  dwells  not  in  houses  made  by  hands." 

Perhaps  as  he  glanced  around  and  saw  looks  of  dis- 
approval, and  possibly  seeing  that  the  high  priest  was 
about  to  cut  short  his  speech,  he  suddenly  concluded  the 
address  with  words  of  bitter  invective. 

"Stiffnecked,  and  uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears ! 
You  always  resist  the  Holy  Spirit!  As  did  your 
fathers,  so  do  you.  Which  of  the  prophets  did  they 
not  persecute?  They  killed  those  who  announced 
the  coming  of  the  Righteous  One — of  whom  you 
have  now  become  the  betrayers  and  murderers — 
you,  who  received  the  Law  sent  from  heaven  by 
angels^  and  then  did  not  keep  it!" — ^Acts  7:  51-53. 

Though  this  final  utterance  sounds  somewhat  like 
certain  sayings  of  John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus,  the  words 
are  more  like  those  of  a  man  who  knows  his  case  is  lost, 
that  he  is  condemned  already,  that  nothing  he  can 
possibly  say  will  alter  the  judgment  against  him.   The 

>  This  was  a  Jewish  legend. 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  MARTYR  65 

words  were  perfectly  true;  but  truth  was  not  what  the 
court  wanted. 

Stephen  is  stoned. — The  court  proceeded  no  further. 
The  riot  which  Stephen  had  perhaps  anticipated,  just 
before  he  spoke  his  final  words,  broke  out  at  once.  It 
had  been  observed  that  when  he  began  his  defense  his 
face  shone  "as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel"  (Acts 
6:  15).  And  now,  still  more  lifted  up  in  spirit  and  seeing 
a  vision,  even  as  he  stood  there  facing  death,  he  said, 
"Behold,  I  see  the  heavens  opened  and  the  Son  of  man 
standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God."  He  said  no  more. 
For  the  mob,  which  had  been  waiting  outside  the  court, 
broke  upon  him,  shouting  and  screaming  and  holding 
their  ears,  and  rushed  him  out  of  the  city  and  stoned 
him.  This  was  the  ancient  punishment  for  blasphemy 
(the  original  charge  against  Stephen).  According  to 
custom,  the  witnesses  were  required  to  cast  the  first 
stones.  This  much  of  a  semblance  of  justice  was  carried 
out.  And  as  they  did  so  the  "witnesses"  laid  down  their 
outer  garments  at  the  feet  of  a  young  man  named  Saul, 
one  of  the  "Hellenists"  of  the  synagogue  of  the  Cilicians. 

As  they  stoned  him,  Stephen  called  out  to  his  Master 
whom  he  beheld  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  saying, 
"Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit."  Then  kneeling  down 
amid  the  shower  of  missiles  hurled  at  him,  he  cried, 
"Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge."  And  when  he 
had  said  this,  he  "fell  asleep." 

It  was  the  first  overt  act  on  the  part  of  the  authorities 
or  the  multitude,  since  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  to  get 
rid  of  the  growing  movement.  It  was  a  terrible  mistake, 
even  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  authorities,  and  ought 
never  to  have  occurred.  It  was  an  outburst  of  fanaticism, 
of  mob  rule,  of  ungovernable  passions.  It  was  the  first 
entry  in  the  long  annals  of  bloodshed  and  persecution 


66    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

which  record  the  progress  of  that  faith  which  overcame 
the  world.  And,  as  in  every  age  "the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church/'  so  it  was  even  here  in 
the  death  of  the  proto-martyr.  Persecution  served  only 
to  drive  the  disciples  from  Jerusalem  and  spread  the 
new  faith  in  other  quarters.  In  a  most  true  sense,  there- 
fore, Stephen's  death  was  not  in  vain. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Who  were  the   ''Hellenists"    (Acts  6:  i)?    the   "He- 

brews"? Refer  again  to  the  list  of  the  peoples 
among  whom  the  Jews  were  dispersed,  who  were 
represented  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  2:9-11),  and  com- 
pare Acts  6:  9.  Look  up  "Libertines"  in  the  Bible 
dictionary. 

2.  Does  the  church  to-day  perform  any  fimction  similar 

to  that  for  which  the  Seven  were  appointed?  Do 
you  know  any  ways  in  which  boys  and  girls  can 
help  their  pastor  in  his  work? 

3.  How  does  their  appointment  show  the  spirit  of  broth- 

erhood and  the  confidence  which  the  apostles  pos- 
sessed ? 

4.  Compare  the  charge  against  Stephen  with  that  brought 

against  Jesus  in  the  high  priest's  house  (Mark  14: 

58). 

5.  Read  the  speech  of  Stephen  (as  given  in  Acts  7  ^  2-53) 

in  the  light  of  what  is  said  above.  Note  the  long 
historical  introduction,  the  evident  reverence  for 
Moses,  the  emphasis  on  Israel's  age-long  disobe- 
dience, and  the  abrupt  and  apparently  disconnected 
conclusion  in  verses  51-53- 

6.  Compare  Stephen's  dying  words  with  the  prayer  of 

Jesus  on  the  cross  (Luke  23 :  34).  The  spirit  of  that 
prayer  shows  the  influence  of  Jesus  upon  the  first 
mart5n'-disciple. 

7.  Do  you  know  the  hymn,  "The  Son  of  God  Goes  Forth 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  MARTYR  67 

to  War"?    Write  in  yotir  notebook  the  verse  refer- 
ring to  the  chief  figure  in  this  chapter. 
What  qualities  in  Stephen's  character  do  you  admire? 
Are  there  ways  in  which  we  ought  to  imitate  him 
to-day  ? 


CHAPTER  VII 

PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST 

So  far  the  Christian  movement  had  scarcely  spread 
beyond  Jerusalem  and  the  nearby  villages  (see  Acts  5: 
16).  It  was  increasing  so  rapidly,  however,  that  sooner 
or  later  it  must  inevitably  pass  the  boundaries  of  Judaea 
and  then  advance  into  the  great  world  outside.  ^'You 
shall  be  my  witnesses,"  the  Master  had  said,  "both  in 
Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judaea  and  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth"  (Acts  1:8).  The  martyr- 
dom of  Stephen  only  hastened  what  was  a  necessary 
step  in  the  expansion  of  the  church. 

"They  were  all  scattered  abroad  throughout  the 
regions  of  Judaea  and  Samaria,  except  the  apostles." 
—Acts  8: 1. 

THE  GOSPEL  IN  SAMARIA 

It  is  significant  that  the  first  city  evangehzed  outside 
Jerusalem  was  Samaria.  In  one  way  this  was  natural 
and  to  be  expected,  for  Samaria  was  the  chief  city 
(once  the  capital)  of  the  district  by  that  name,  which 
together  with  Judaea  formed  the  new  Roman  province 
ruled  by  the  procurator  (see  Chapter  II  of  this  volume). 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  a  strong  feeling  of 
antagonism  on  the  part  of  the  Judaeans  toward  their 
northern  neighbors.  It  dated  from  the  days  of  Ezra,  and 
had  lasted  on  through  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  of 
succeeding  generations,  until  in  the  days  of  Jesus  it 
could  be  said  that  "Jews  had  no  dealings  with  Samar- 
itans" (John  4:9).    Jesus  had  shown  the  unfairness  of 

68 


PHILIP   THE  EVANGELIST  69 

this  hatred  in  his  great  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan. 
And  it  is  most  significant  that  the  church's  first  move 
outside  Jerusalem  was  not  back  to  Galilee  but  to  Samaria. 
Christianity  was  destined  from  the  first  (though  some 
failed  to  recognize  it)  to  overstep  the  lines  and  divisions 
of  class  and  caste,  of  nationahty  and  sectarianism. 

Philip's  preaching. — The  "scattering"  of  the  Jeru- 
salem church  was  like  the  scattering  of  flames  of  fire  by 
the  wind.  Wherever  the  new  believers  were  driven, 
there  they  bore  witness  to  their  faith.  Persecution,  in- 
stead of  destroying  the  church,  only  hastened  its  growth 
and  spread  it  farther  abroad. 

"They  therefore  that  were  scattered  abroad  went 
about  preaching  the  word.  And  Philip  went  down 
to  the  city  of  Samaria,  and  proclaimed  unto  them 
the  Christ.  And  the  multitudes  gave  heed  with  one 
accord  unto  the  things  that  were  spoken  by  Philip, 
when  they  heard  and  saw  the  signs  which  he  did. 
For  from  many  of  those  which  had  unclean  spirits, 
they  came  out,  shrieking  and  screaming;  and  many 
that  were  paralyzed  and  lame  were  healed.  And 
there  was  much  joy  in  that  city." — Acts  8 :  4-8. 

We  can  understand  what  this  joy  was  like.  The  gospel 
message  had  not  been  preached  there  before  (see 
Matthew  10:  5),  and  when  Jesus  was  on  his  way  through 
Samaria  on  the  final  journey  to  Jerusalem,  one  of  their 
villages  refused  him  hospitality  (Luke  9:51-56).  Per- 
haps this  only  made  their  welcome  of  Philip  the  heartier, 
and  their  joy  over  his  message  the  more  intense. 

Simon  the  Magician. — There  was  in  Samaria  at  that 
time  a  notorious  magician  called  Simon.  He  had  a  large 
following,  and  completely  amazed  the  Samaritans  with 
his  tricks  and  miracles.    Letting  them  think  that  he  was 


70    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

some  divine  or  supernatural  being,  he  called  himself 
*'one  of  the  powers  of  God  called  The  Great  Power." 
Such  religious  mountebanks  were  common  throughout 
the  world  in  those  days;  their  books  and  magical  formu- 
las have  come  down  to  us  by  the  thousands,  written  on 
papyrus  or  potsherds,  and  buried  in  the  rubbish  heaps 
of  Egypt  and  elsewhere.  We  should  naturally  expect 
Christianity  to  come  in  contact  with  these  self-deceived 
deceivers  sooner  or  later;  and  the  book  of  Acts  clearly 
bears  evidence  to  the  trustworthiness  of  the  narratives 
it  records,  in  that  it  describes  such  representatives  of 
superstition. 

When  Simon  saw  his  followers  converted  by  the 
preaching  of  Philip;  when  he  saw  them  baptized,  and 
witnessed  the  "signs"  of  spiritual  power  which  Philip 
performed  on  the  sick  and  demented,  he  decided  that 
he  too  would  be  baptized,  and  have  some  share  in  the 
new  religion.  But  though  he  was  baptized,  his  heart 
was  untouched  and  his  morals  unchanged.  He  was  still 
the  same  exploiter  of  the  people,  the  same  practicer  of 
the  "dark  arts."  His  motive  in  becoming  a  Christian 
was  merely  to  gain  control  of  still  more  magical  powers. 

Peter  and  John  sent  to  Samaria. — When  the  apos- 
tles at  Jerusalem  heard  that  the  Samaritans  had  re- 
ceived the  gospel  they  sent  down  to  them  Peter  and 
John.  When  they  had  arrived  they  prayed  for  the  new 
converts,  that  they  might  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit, — for,  Luke  says,  "as  yet  he  had  come  upon  none 
of  them;  only  they  had  been  baptized  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus."  Then  they  laid  their  hands  on  them, 
and  they  received  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Simon  thought  at  once  that  this  rite  must  be  the 
secret  of  Philip's  power.  If  only  he  could  gain  possession 
of  it,  what  miracles  might  he  not  perform,  and  regain 


PHILIP   THE  EVANGELIST  71 

his  old  following  in  Samaria !  What  expulsion  of  witches, 
what  sweetening  of  wells,  what  averting  of  blight  and 
mildew  from  the  crops,  what  exorcism  of  demons  and 
ghosts  might  he  not  accompHsh!  So  he  came  to  the 
apostles  and  offered  them  a  sum  of  money  and  said, 
"Give  me  this  power,  that  on  whomsoever  I  lay  my 
hands,  he  may  receive  the  Holy  Spirit."  But  Simon  had 
mistaken  his  man. 

With  the  same  stern,  almost  fierce  tone  of  rebuke 
which  had  withered  the  hypocrite  Ananias,  Peter  turned 
on  him  and  said:  "Your  silver  perish  with  you! — trying 
to  obtain  the  gift  of  God  with  money!  You  have  no 
part  nor  share  in  this!  For  your  heart  is  all  wrong  be- 
fore God.  Repent  of  this  wickedness  and  pray  God  to 
forgive  you  this  miserable  scheme." 

Simon,  stiU  superstitious  and  now  alarmed,  at  once 
cowered  before  the  apostles  and  begged  them  to  remove 
any  speU  their  words  might  have  brought  upon  him. 
"Pray  the  Lord  for  me  that  none  of  these  things  over- 
take me!" — and  with  these  words  he  departs  from  the 
page  of  history.  We  never  hear  anything  more  of  him. 
But  at  least  the  incident  shows  what  the  apostles  them- 
selves thought  of  the  "gift  of  God."  It  was  a  power 
effective  only  "by  the  Spirit";  it  was  not  for  self-ag- 
grandizement or  the  fame  or  influence  of  those  receiving 
it.  Rather,  like  Jesus'  own  supernatural  powers  as 
Messiah  (see  Luke  4:  1-13),  it  was  given  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poor  and  helpless  and  miserable — God's  holiest 
power  consecrated  to  the  highest  and  most  unselfish 
ends. 

PHILIP  AND  THE  ETHIOPIAN 

For  some  time  the  mission  in  Samaria  was  continued, 
the  apostles  making  their  way  slowly  back  to  Jerusalem, 


^2     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

and  preaching  in  various  country  villages  as  they  passed 
along. 

On  the  road  to  Gaza. — Philip,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  directed  to  go  to  the  south  of  Jerusalem,  along  the 
desert  road  which  led  to  Gaza.  "An  angel  of  the  Lord," 
it  is  said,  brought  him  this  conmiand — probably  in  a 
vision.  So  he  arose  and  went,  down  into  the  lonely 
Judaean  wilderness.  A  day  or  so  later  the  purpose  of  his 
mission  became  apparent. 

Down  the  long  road  winding  southward  over  the  hills 
came  the  chariot  of  some  high  foreign  government 
official.  As  it  drew  near,  Philip  recognized  the  traveling 
retinue  of  the  chief  treasurer  of  Ethiopia,  the  mountain- 
kingdom  of  Queen  Candace.  The  treasurer  had  been  at 
Jerusalem  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Temple,  and  now  was 
returning  home.  As  he  sat  in  his  magnificent  chariot  he 
was  reading  from  a  scroll  the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah. 
When  he  saw  him,  the  Spirit  prompted  Philip,  "Go  and 
join  that  company. '^ 

So  Philip  ran  up  beside  the  Ethiopian's  chariot,  and 
overheard  him  reading  the  familiar  passages  (it  was  the 
ancient  custom  to  read  aloud).  He  made  bold  to  address 
the  officer,  and  said,  "Do  you  really  understand  what 
you  are  reading?"  The  officer,  perhaps  reading  Greek 
only  (the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  called 
the  Septuagint)  and  unfamiliar  with  the  original — for 
he  was  not  a  Jew  but  a  proselyte — replied,  "How  can  I 
understand  it  unless  someone  interprets  it  for  me?" 
Seeing  that  Philip  was  a  Jew,  or  at  least  that  he  spoke 
as  if  he  understood  the  book,  he  invited  him  to  sit 
beside  him  and  explain  it  as  they  went  along. 

The  passage  which  he  had  just  been  reading  was  the 
one  from  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah  describing  the 
great  Unknown  Sufferer,  the  Servant  of   the  Lord — a 


PHILIP   THE   EVANGELIST  73 

passage  which  Jesus  had  often  pondered  and  which 
meant  much  to  him. 

"He  was  oppressed, 
Yet  when  he  was  afflicted  he  opened  not  his  mouth; 
As  a  lamb  that  is  led  to  the  slaughter, 
And  as  a  sheep  that  before  her  shearers  is  dumb, 
So  he  opened  not  has  mouth. 
By  oppression  and  judgment  he  was  taken  away; 
And  as  for  his  generation,  who  among  them  con- 
sidered 
That  he  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living 
For  the  transgression  of  my  people  to  whom  the 
stroke  was  due?"  -Isaiah  53 :  7-8. 

Then  the  officer  asked  Philip:  "Of  whom  is  this 
spoken?  Of  the  prophet  himself  or  someone  else?"  This 
gave  Philip  his  opportunity,  and  ''beginning  from  this 
passage,  he  preached  to  him  Christ  Jesus."  For  the 
early  Christians  understood  all  Old  Testament  prophecy 
as  prediction.  The  prophets  had  not  so  much  addressed 
their  own  times  with  a  message  of  repentance  or  consola- 
tion as  announced  beforehand  all  that  the  Messiah 
should  do  and  suffer.  It  is  wonderful,  and  impresses  us 
still,  how  closely  the  picture  of  the  Great  Sufferer  in 
Isaiah  and  the  Psalms  does  resemble  our  Lord  in  his 
passion. 

The  Ethiopian  baptized. — As  they  went  on  they 
came  to  one  of  the  wadies  or  seasonal  streams  in  the 
wilderness,  and  the  officer  said,  "Here  is  water;  what  is 
to  hinder  my  baptism  right  here  and  now?"  And  so  he 
commanded  the  chariot  to  halt,  and  both  of  them  going 
down  into  the  water,  Philip  baptized  him  in  the  name  of 
Christ.  And  so  one  more  messenger  was  sent  forth  to- 
ward "the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth"  with  the  message 


74    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

of  Jesus.  We  do  not  know  what  resulted  after  his  return 
to  Ethiopia,  for  the  story  has  not  come  down  to  us.  But 
we  know  that  before  many  generations  there  was  a 
strong  church  in  Ethiopia,  with  its  own  liturgy,  organiza- 
tion, church  buildings,  and  a  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  Ethiopic  language.  (This  translation  is  often 
quoted  in  seeking  to  establish  the  early  and  most  correct 
form  of  the  New  Testament  text.) 

Then  Philip,  his  mission  fulfilled,  was  led  by  the 
Spirit  into  the  region  along  the  Mediterranean  coast.  He 
was  found  at  Azotus  (the  ancient  Philistine  city  of 
Ashdod);  and  passing  on  from  there  "he  preached  the 
gospel  to  all  the  cities"  of  the  coastal  plain,  ''till  he  came 
to  Caesarea"  (Acts  8:  40). 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up  the  earlier  history  of  the  Samaritans  (from 

the  fifth  century  B.  C),  and  find  out  why  the  Jews 
had  no  dealings  with  them  (see  Bible  dictionary). 

2.  Look  up  examples  of  magical  formulas  used  in  ancient 

times  (encyclopedia,  or  Deissmann's  Light  From  the 
Ancient  East). 

3.  Turn  to  a  map  of  Palestine  showing  the  roads  (for 

example,  the  frontispiece  of  The  Life  and  Times  of 
Jesus  or  Crosby's  Geography  of  Bible  Lands)  and 
trace  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza.  Where 
was  Ethiopia?  Locate  Azotus  and  Caesarea.  Trace 
Philip's  journey  from  Samaria  to  Caesarea. 

4.  What  was  the  Septuagint?     Why  was  it  so  named? 

(See  dictionary.)  The  S3nnbol  frequently  used  in 

referring  to  it  is  'XXX."  Why?  What  was  its 
date? 

5.  What  is  a  "wady"?  A  "liturgy"?    Look  up  the  word 

"simony."  How  does  the  story  told  in  this  chapter 
explain  the  original  significance  of  the  term? 


PHILIP   THE   EVANGELIST  75 

6.  What  was  the  original  meaning  of  Isaiah  53?    What 

meaning  did  it  come  to  have  for  the  eariy  Chris- 
tians ? 

7.  Is   it   possible   for   people   to-day   to   misunderstand 

Christianity  as  Simon  the  Magician  did?  How? 
Does  God  ever  accept  money  in  lieu  of  repentance 
and  faith  and  right  conduct  ? 

8.  Philip  must  have  been  a  careful  Bible  student  to  be 

able  to  explain  the  passage  to  the  Ethiopian.  The 
church  always  needs  teachers  of  its  faith.  Have  you 
ever  thought  of  preparing  yourself  to  become  a 
teacher  of  the  Christian  religion? 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PAUL  OF  TARSUS 

At  the  time  Christianity  arose  there  were  many  more 
Jews  living  outside  Palestine  than  in  it.  These  formed 
what  was  called  the  Diaspora  (''Dispersion"  or  "Scatter- 
ing"), and  probably  numbered  between  three  and  four 
miUion  souls.  They  were  scattered  throughout  the 
Roman  Empire,  from  Parthia  and  the  lower  valley  of 
the  Tigris  in  the  east  to  Spain  and  Gaul  in  the  west,  and 
from  the  bleak  northern  shores  of  the  Euxine  Sea  to  the 
borders  of  the  Sahara  in  Mauretania,  Libya  and  upper 
Egypt.  But  chiefly,  since  the  Jew  has  always  (or  at 
least  since  early  times)  been  a  trader  and  artisan 
rather  than  a  farmer,  grazer  or  seaman,  they  settled 
in  the  great  cosmopolitan  cities.  Alexandria  had  so 
many  Jews  in  the  first  century  that  they  occupied, 
according  to  Philo  Judaeus  (about  50  A.  D.),  two  whole 
quarters  of  the  city,  and  were  represented  by  scattered 
families  in  other  quarters  as  well.  The  wealthy  cities  of 
the  province  of  Asia — Miletus,  Ephesus,  Sardis,  Perga- 
mum — all  had  large  Jewish  populations;  and  so  had 
Antioch,  Tarsus,  and  even  Rome. 

Everywhere  the  Jews  built  their  synagogues,  read 
their  sacred  Scriptures  (including  the  Greek  translation 
of  the  Old  Testament),  and  observed  their  ancestral 
customs  with  as  much  strictness  as  was  possible  outside 
of  the  Holy  Land.  Of  course,  they  had  not  the  sacrificial 
worship  of  the  Temple,  but  they  made  up  for  this  in  a 
way  by  the  collection  of  a  tax  of  one  half-shekel  (or 
didrachma:  worth  fifty  cents)  from  every  Jew  over 
twenty  years  old,   and  by  occasional  pilgrimages  to 

76 


PAUL  OF  TARSUS  -J-J 

Jerusalem  to  observe  the  three  great  festivals — especially 
Passover  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  At  the  same  time 
they  were  zealous  missionaries — as  Jesus  had  said,  ''they 
compassed  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte/'  Great 
multitudes  became  adherents  of  Judaism — ''proselytes," 
"those  who  feared  God,"  throughout  the  Roman  Empire. 
They  accepted  the  belief  in  one  God,  and  respected  the 
moral  provisions  of  the  Law,  although  they  did  not 
observe  to  the  full  its  ceremonial  requirements.  Thus 
the  Jewish  Diaspora  was  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  in  the  religious  situation  of  the  world  of  the  first 
century,  and  it  was  destined  to  have  an  important  in- 
fluence upon  the  rise  and  expansion  of  early  Chris- 
tianity. 

Paul's  early  years 

In  the  southeast  comer  of  Asia  Minor,  just  before  the 
ancient  highway  from  the  west  swings  around  into 
northern  Syria  (or  the  modern  Bagdad  Railroad,  for 
that  matter,  skirting  the  shores  of  Alexandretta  Bay), 
lay  in  the  first  century  the  tiny  province  of  CiHcia.  It 
had  been  Roman  territory  since  103  B,  C.,  but  was  over- 
run with  pirates  until  Pompey  subdued  them  and 
organized  the  province  in  64.  The  orator  Cicero  was  one 
of  its  early  governors  or  proconsuls.  Its  eastern  and 
southern  part  was  a  broad  and  comparatively  fertile 
plain,  lying  between  the  Taurus  and  Amanus  mountain 
ranges,  and  watered  by  four  abundant  rivers.  Besides 
commerce — the  highway  from  Ephesus  to  the  east  which 
ran  through  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  trade  routes  of 
the  ancient  world — there  was  a  large  native  industry 
engaged  in  the  production  and  manufacture  of  a  special 
kind  of  heavy  cloth  made  of  goat's  hair  (called  cilicium), 
widely  used  for  tents. 


78    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Paul's  birth  in  Tarsus. — Tarsus  was  the  chief  city 
of  the  province.  It  lay  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Cydnus 
River,  about  thirty  miles  due  south  of  the  famous  pass 
through  the  Taurus  Mountains  (the  Cilician  Gates),  on 
the  highway  of  trade  and  travel  to  the  east.  It  was 
between  five  and  ten  mUes  from  the  seacoast,  and 
enjoyed  only  such  Hght  shipping  as  could  navigate  the 
lower  stretches  of  the  river.  Ten  miles  to  the  north  was 
a  range  of  hiUs  where  wealthy  famiHes  had  their  villas 
for  refuge  from  the  intense  and  burning  heat  of  summer 
on  the  flat  CiHcian  plain.  Even  in  the  days  of  Xenophon, 
four  centuries  earher,  it  had  been  a  ^  large  and  prosperous 
city" — as  he  says  in  the  Anabasis. 

It  was  a  famous  center  of  learning,  and  had  its  own 
municipal  "university."  Great  teachers,  especially 
teachers  of  the  Stoic  philosophy,  had  gone  forth  from 
Tarsus;  men  educated  there  were  to  be  found  in  all  the 
large  cities  of  the  empire.  It  ranked  with  Athens,  Alex- 
andria, and  Antioch  as  a  center  of  education.  And 
among  its  population  were  many  Jews,  attracted  thither 
by  the  prospect  of  trade  and  manufacture. 

Here,  about  the  opening  years  of  the  present  era,  was 
born  a  boy  destined  in  time  to  become  one  of  the  greatest 
figures  in  history.  He  was  "Saul,  who  is  also  called 
Paulus" — it  was  the  custom  at  that  time  for  Jews  to 
adopt  Greek  or  Roman  names  (in  addition  to  their 
Hebrew  names)  for  use  in  business  and  other  relations 
with  Gentiles.  His  family  was  orthodox  Jewish,  ad- 
herents of  "the  straitest  sect  of  their  reHgion" — Phari- 
sees. They  were  descendants  of  the  old  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin, and  Saul  was  probably  named  in  honor  of  the 
Benjamite  son  of  Kish  who  became  Israel's  first  king. 
They  were  probably  in  fairly  good  circumstances,  for 
they  not  only  possessed  Roman  citizenship — a  privilege 


PAUL  OF  TARSUS 


79 


at  that  time  extended  to  few  families  outside  Italy — but 
also  they  were  able  to  send  young  Saul  to  Jerusalem  to 
receive  his  education  in  the  Law. 

His  education  and  early  youth. — The  earUer  years 
of  his  life  were  spent  at  home.  At  the  synagogue  school 
he  learned  to  read  and  write  the  sacred  language  of  his 
fathers,  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  he  also 
learned  Greek,  the  language  of  everyday  use,  and  the 
one  in  which  the  Bible  was  read  on  the  Sabbath  during 
pubHc  worship.  Like  every  other  Jewish  boy,  he  learned 
a  trade — in  his  case,  the  common  Cilician  one  of  tent- 
making.  How  useful  this  became  to  him  later  on  we 
shall  see.  Outside  his  school  hours  and  the  time  daily 
spent  with  the  big  tentmaker's  needle  he  played  in  the 
courtyards  or  on  the  streets  of  his  neighborhood.  There 
were  other  Jewish  boys  of  his  age  whom  he  came  to 
know.  They  were  city  boys.  Unlike  Jesus  and  John 
the  Baptist  and  the  earlier  apostles,  who  grew  up  in  the 
country  or  in  Httle  villages,  these  boys  were  not  famihar 
with  rural  scenes.  Listead,  they  were  famihar  with  the 
shops  and  warehouses,  the  garrison  of  Roman  soldiers, 
the  race  track  and  gymnasium,  the  Greek  temples,  the 
baths  and  theaters  of  a  thriving  Hellenistic  city.  It  is 
striking  how  Paul's  letters  betray  his  earUest  experiences: 
their  figures  of  speech  are  almost  wholly  chosen  from 
city  life.  Jesus'  figures  and  parables,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  almost  aU  taken  from  nature. 

At  the  feet  of  GamaHel. — ^At  the  age  of  twelve  or 
thirteen  it  was  customary  for  a  Jewish  boy  to  be  made 
a  "son  of  the  coromandments,"  or  confirmed,  as  we 
might  say.  From  then  on  he  was  to  devote  a  certain 
amount  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  the  Torah  or  Sacred 
Law,  and  to  begin  its  complete  observance.  Hence  boys 
were  often  sent,  at  about  this  age,  to  study  under  some 


8o     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

rabbi  or  teacher  of  the  Torah.  Paul's  parents  sent  him 
to  Jerusalem,  to  study  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  one  of 
the  most  famous  rabbis  in  the  whole  world  (see  chapter 
V).  Here  the  pupils  sat  in  a  circle  before  the  teacher 
while  he  read  and  expounded  the  Law  of  Moses,  com- 
paring passage  with  passage,  quoting  the  observations 
and  opinions  of  great  teachers  in  the  past,  and  endeavor- 
ing to  arrive  at  the  real  requirements  of  the  Law  as  the 
expression  of  the  will  of  God. 

PAUL  THE  PHARISEE 

The  Jewish  religion  was  legalistic,  that  is,  it  was  (and 
still  is)  a  reUgion  founded  upon  observance  of  a  sacred 
law.  This  law  comprises  not  only  moral  rules  but  also 
ceremonial  directions — such  as  those  regulating  the 
temple  sacrifices  and  offerings,  and  the  various  cleansings 
necessary  after  touching  things  "defiled."  Strictly  to 
fulfill  its  requirements  demanded  a  great  deal  of  time 
and  the  most  careful  study.  The  Pharisees  were  those 
whose  chief  aim  in  life  was  to  learn  the  exact  require- 
ments of  the  Law  and  to  observe  them  scrupulously  to 
the  last  detail. 

Zeal  for  the  Law. — Into  this  religious  movement  of 
his  teachers  and  friends  Paul  plunged  with  hearty 
enthusiasm.  He  became  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees, 
striving  to  outdo  even  the  most  exacting  requirements 
of  the  Law;  he  became  so  intolerant  of  those  who  failed 
to  share  his  scruples  that  he  even  persecuted  them  in 
the  synagogues.  For  along  with  his  zeal  for  the  Law  he 
also  shared  with  the  other  Pharisees  a  profound  faith  in 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  The  Messiah  was  to  be  the 
heavenly  king  of  a  new  and  sanctified  Israel:  sinners, 
breakers  of  the  Law,  apostates  from  the  Covenant,  had 
no  place  in  Messiah's  kingdom.    But  they  were,  never- 


PAUL  OF  TARSUS  8i 

theless,  delaying  Messiah's  coming.  For  he  was  not  to 
come,  as  one  rabbi  said,  until  all  Israel  observed  perfectly 
the  Law  from  one  Sabbath  to  the  next.  Hence  Paul's 
persecution  of  "the  sons  of  lawlessness,"  as  he  would 
call  them,  had  what  seemed  to  his  own  mind  a  really 
noble  excuse.  He  was  hastening,  by  his  zeal,  the  coming 
of  the  Messiah  from  heaven  to  be  Israel's  holy  King. 

Persecution  of  the  Christians. — It  seemed  to  him 
that  none  were  more  to  be  blamed  for  "lawlessness" 
than  the  obstinate  and  fanatical  followers  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Paul  completely  lacked  the  gentle  spirit  of 
his  master,  Gamaliel — who  had  counseled  the  Sanhedrin 
to  deal  fairly  with  the  apostles,  lest  they  might  perchance 
be  found  opposing  God  (Acts  5:35-39).  Instead,  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  "persecute  this  Way  unto  death, 
binding  and  delivering  into  prisons  both  men  and 
women."  He  received  letters  from  the  high  priest  and 
elders  in  Jerusalem,  authorizing  him  to  visit  the  syna- 
gogues as  a  heresy-hunter,  and  comjnanding  the  syn- 
agogue authorities  to  deliver  over  to  him  any  who  were 
Christians,  in  order  that  they  might  be  brought  to 
Jerusalem  and  tried  for  their  belief.  At  the  death  of 
Stephen  (Chapter  VI),  the  witnesses  laid  down  their 
garments  at  the  feet  of  Saul. 

Inner  dissatisfaction. — It  is  hard  nowadays  to  con- 
ceive such  intolerance  in  the  name  of  rehgion — at  least, 
in  Christian  lands.  Whatever  the  spiritual  gain  or  loss 
of  the  past  two  hundred  years,  at  least  here  in  America 
and  in  the  other  enlightened  nations  we  do  not  persecute 
one  another  on  account  of  religious  faith. 

And  it  is  stranger  still  to  find,  as  Paul  admitted  in 
after  years  (see  Romans  7),  that  all  this  time  when  he 
was  fanatically  persecuting  the  believers  in  Jesus  he  was 
himself  growing  more  and  more  insecure  in  his  own 


82    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

belief  in  the  Law.  Its  strictest  observance  seemed  to 
bring  him  no  nearer  God,  or  to  bring  down  the  Messiah 
from  heaven.  The  ceremonial  part  was  easy  enough, 
once  he  thoroughly  understood  it,  and  had  the  leisure  to 
observe  it;  but  the  moral  and  spiritual  part,  that  he 
could  never  wholly  master.  The  Law  said,  "Thou  shalt 
not  steal" — this  also  he  could  obey  weU  enough;  but  when 
it  said,  "Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  there  was  imphed  some 
control  over  the  very  desires  of  his  heart,  the  deepest 
ambitions  of  his  soul;  and  try  as  he  would  he  could  not 
"kill  out  desire." 

His  cruelty  as  a  persecutor  may  have  been  in  part  the 
very  result  of  his  inner  unrest.  Like  the  persecutors  of 
heretics  in  the  later  Middle  Ages,  he  "thought  he  did 
God  service"  in  this  way.  Let  their  bodies  perish — he 
was  saving  their  souls  in  spite  of  their  folly  and  obsti- 
nacy! It  satisfied  him,  in  a  way,  to  be  doing  something 
— something  with  a  purpose  which  he  told  himself  was 
worthy  and  just. 

The  examples  of  the  persecuted. — But  what  must 
have  been  the  effect  upon  his  troubled  conscience  of  his 
experience  with  these  poor  simple  beHevers  in  Jesus, 
uneducated  for  the  most  part,  but  courageous,  loyal  to 
their  Master,  and  unafraid  to  die?  What  must  have 
been  the  impression  made  upon  him  by  the  dying  martyr 
Stephen,  his  face  shining  with  the  brightness  of  an 
angel's,  his  eyes  glistening  with  the  splendor  of  a  heavenly 
vision  as  he  knelt  and  prayed  for  his  persecutors?  It 
might  be  a  long  way  that  Paul  had  yet  to  travel  before 
he  should  "see  the  Lord"  and  gain  inner  peace  and  con- 
fidence. But  at  least  he  would  not  rest  content  with  any 
half-way  measures,  with  half-truths,  and  hazy  "general 
beliefs"  about  religion.  Either  the  Law  was  wholly  true 
and  good  or  it  was  positively  false  and  bad.   Either  the 


PAUL  OF  TARSUS  83 

Christians  were  utterly  wrong,  deluded,  steeped  in  sin, 
so  that  it  was  a  mercy  to  save  their  souls  with  rod  and 
lash,  or  they  were  absolutely  in  the  right.  Either  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  was  an  impostor  and  deceiver,  a  perverter 
of  the  people,  and  accursed  (as  proved  by  his  death  on 
the  cross),  or  he  was  the  true  Messiah,  he  was  the  Man 
from  Heaven,  he  was  Israel's  King  in  disguise. 

Whether  true  or  false,  Paul  was  soon  to  discover,  and 
this  discovery  marked  the  turning  point  of  his  whole 
life. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1 .  Look  up  on  a  sequence  map  (for  example,  in  Breasted's 

Ancient  Times,  pp.  552,  553)  the  political  changes 
which  took  place  in  Asia  Minor  during  the  last  two 
centuries  B.  C. 

2.  Cilicia  was  a  famous  region  in  ancient  history.     Lo- 

cate the  Cilician  Gates,  Tarsus,  Issus.  For  what 
were  they  famous?  (See  ancient  history,  encyclo- 
pedia, or  Bible  dictionary.) 

3.  Read  in  your  ancient  history  the  accoimt  of  civiliza- 

tion in  the  eastern  Mediterranean  world  between 
Alexander  the  Great  and  the  early  Caesars  (for 
example,  Breasted,  Chapter  XXI,  and  study  the 
illustrations) . 

4.  Look  up  the  meaning  of  Roman  citizenship  in  the 

first  century.  It  was  a  great  protection  to  travelers 
all  over  the  world.    Why? 

5.  How  do  you  accoimt  for  Paul's  persecution  of  the  fol- 

lowers of  Jesus?  Remember  that  he  was  an  earn- 
estly religious  man  with  a  "zeal  for  God."  Is  ''sin- 
cerity" alone  enough  to  justify  one's  conduct?  Or 
must  we  be  right  as  well  as  sincere? 

6.  Look  up  Acts  22:  3-5;  26:  4,  5,  9-1 1 ;  and  Galatians  i: 

13,  14,  where  Paul  himself  refers  to  his  youth  and 
early  manhood. 


84    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

7.  Why  is  Paul  sometimes  called  "Saiil"? 

8.  God  gives  to  each  one  of  us  certain  peculiar  advan- 

tages, all  our  own,  in  our  birth-place,  our  parents 
and  ancestors,  oiir  early  home,  education  and  expe- 
riences. He  expects  us  to  measure  up  to  these,  and 
use  all  our  advantages  in  the  best  possible  way. 
What  are  some  of  your  advantages  ?  How  ought  you 
to  use  them  in  God's  service? 


CHAPTER  IX 
PAUL'S  CONVERSION 

Paul  had  not  himself  known  Jesus  "in  the  flesh." 
He  may  have  seen  him,  perhaps  after  his  condemnation 
by  the  priests.  He  must  surely  have  known  something 
about  him,  because  the  whole  city  of  Jerusalem  was 
stirred  by  the  events  which  took  place  just  before  Pass- 
over in  the  year  29.  But  if  Paul  had  known  Jesus  per- 
sonally, even  in  the  least  degree,  we  may  be  sure  he 
would  have  mentioned  it  in  his  letters.  Perhaps  his 
bitter  opposition  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus  would  not  have 
occurred  if  he  had  ever  known  their  Master.  As  it  was, 
he  fanatically  persecuted  One  who  was  to  him  only  a 
name  (Acts  26:9)  and  the  beliefs  of  whose  followers 
were  only  a  "Way" — a  heresy  and  delusion  (Acts  22:  4). 

"For  I  actually  believed  it  my  duty,"  as  he  afterward 
related  this  part  of  his  career,  "to  do  all  I  could  against 
the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Even  in  Jerusalem  I 
did  this— and  shut  up  many  of  the  saints  in  prisons, 
having  received  authority  from  the  chief  priests;  and 
when  they  were  put  to  death  I  cast  my  vote  against 
them.  And  by  punishing  them  often  in  all  the  synagogues, 
I  tried  to  make  them  blaspheme.  And  so  frantic  was  I 
against  them  that  I  persecuted  them  even  in  the  cities 
outside"  (Acts  26:9-11). 

ON  THE  ROAD  TO  DAMASCUS 

Twenty-five  miles  northeast  of  the  snow-capped  sum- 
mit of  Mount  Hermon,  on  the  very  border  of  the  desert, 
lay  the  old  Syrian  city  Damascus.    Here  there  were 

85 


86    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

many  Jews,  and  among  them  followers  of  Jesus.  How 
there  came  to  be  disciples  of  Jesus  in  Damascus  this 
early  (about  35  A.  D.)  we  do  not  know.  Probably 
visitors  from  Jerusalem  or  pilgrims  returning  from  the 
feasts  had  brought  the  "good  news"  with  them.  Or 
perhaps  some  of  the  disciples  "scattered  abroad"  at  the 
time  of  Stephen's  death  (Acts  8:  i)  settled  there.  We 
must  remember  that  the  book  of  Acts  does  not  give  us 
a  complete  record  of  the  growth  of  the  church,  but  only 
a  selection  from  such  accounts  as  had  been  handed 
down  by  tradition  to  the  time  of  the  writer — fifty  years 
later. 

The  vision  and  the  Voice. — Paul  was  now  carrying 
on  his  persecution  outside  the  cities  of  Palestine.  He  had 
secured  letters  from  the  hierarchy  in  Jerusalem  authoriz- 
ing him  to  bring  thither  for  trial  any  whom  he  found 
professing  the  new  faith.  His  present  destination  was 
Damascus.  The  road  there  led  down  across  Samaria 
and  the  valley  of  Esdraelon,  across  Galilee — where  Jesus, 
whose  very  name  he  hated,  had  spent  his  ministry — 
then  up  into  the  high,  flat,  dry  wilderness  which  stretched 
for  fifty  miles  northeastward  to  the  walls  of  the  city. 
This  last  part  of  the  journey  took  a  whole  day  on  horse, 
from  long  before  dawn  until  late  at  night,  resting  some 
hours  in  the  heat  of  the  day;  and  even  longer  than  that 
by  caravan.  It  led  across  lonely  miles  of  desert — the 
desert,  where  men  in  all  ages  have  seen  visions  and  heard 
voices  from  heaven.  Like  Moses,  Elijah  and  Amos,  and 
even  the  Arab,  Mohammed,  Paul  was  to  pass  through 
a  strange,  mystical  experience  before  he  reached 
Damascus. 

It  was  midday.  Already  they  were  approaching  the 
city  and  its  waUs  and  towers  could  be  made  out  in  the 
distance   ahead.     The   heat   was   oppressive,    the   sun 


PAUL'S  CONVERSION  87 

blistering.  Suddenly,  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  a  stream 
of  light  broke  over  Paul.  He  fell  to  the  ground,  blinded 
and  dazed  by  the  shock.  A  voice  was  heard  by  him  say- 
ing, "Saul,  Saul,  why  do  you  persecute  me?" — words 
spoken  in  Aramaic  and  addressing  him  by  his  familiar 
Jewish  name.  Half  conscious,  he  only  replied,  "Who  are 
you.  Sir?"  And  the  voice  answered  him,  speaking  out 
of  the  light,  which  now  took  personal  form:  "I  am  Jesus, 
whom  you  are  persecuting.  Rise,  and  enter  the  city,  and 
you  shall  be  told  what  you  must  do." 

His  fellow  travelers  had  observed  the  flash  and  heard 
the  sound,  but  they  had  seen  no  vision.  Paul  now  rose 
from  the  ground  and  opened  his  eyes,  but  he  saw 
nothing:  he  was  blind!  So  they  led  him  by  the  hand 
into  Damascus.  And  for  three  days  he  was  without 
sight,  and  could  neither  eat  nor  drink. 

The  disciple  Ananias. — One  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
in  Damascus  was  a  devoted  and  highly  honored  man 
named  Ananias.  He  was  now  directed  in  a  vision  to  go 
to  Paul  and  dehver  a  message  to  him  from  the  Lord. 
"Arise,  and  go  into  the  street  called  Straight,^  and  in- 
quire for  a  man  named  Saul,  of  Tarsus;  for  behold,  he 
is  prajdng,  and  has  seen  you  in  a  vision,  coming  in  and 
laying  your  hands  on  him  and  restoring  his  sight" 
(Acts  9:  II,  12). 

Ananias  naturally  hesitated,  for  he  knew  what  had 
brought  the  fierce  Tarsian  zealot  to  their  city.  "Lord, 
I  have  heard  from  many,"  he  answered,  "how  much 
evil  he  has  done  to  thy  saints  in  Jerusalem;  and  here 
he  has  authority  from  the  chief  priests  to  bind  all  that 
call  upon  thy  name."  But  the  Lord  replied,  "(jO  your 
way;  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear  my  name 

1  This  was  a  beautiful  colonnaded  thoroughfare  which  ran  east  and  west 
through  the  city,  with  magnificent  arched  gateways  at  its  ends. 


88    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

before  Gentiles  and  kings  and  the  children  of  Israel; 
for  I  will  show  him  how  many  things  he  too  must  suffer 
for  my  name^s  sake." 

Then  Ananias  went,  found  the  house,  and  entering  it, 
said,  "Brother  Saul,  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  appeared  to 
you  on  the  way  as  you  came,  has  sent  me  to  you,  in 
order  that  you  may  receive  your  sight  and  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Brother  Saul,  receive  your  sight!"  At 
once,  as  if  scales  had  fallen  from  his  eyes,  Paul  looked 
up  and  saw  Ananias  standing  over  him.  Then  Ananias 
said,  "The  God  of  our  fathers  has  appointed  you  to 
know  his  will,  and  to  see  the  Righteous  One  (the  Mes- 
siah), and  to  hear  his  voice.  For  you  must  be  a  witness 
before  all  men  of  what  you  have  seen  and  heard.  Why 
delay?  Arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  your 
sins,  and  call  upon  his  name  in  prayer."  Then  rising 
up,  he  was  baptized,  and  took  food  and  was  strengthened 
(Acts  9: 13-18;  22:  13-16). 

PAUL  THE  CHRISTIAN 

According  to  the  account  which  Paul  himself  wrote, 
he  immediately  "conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood 
(that  is,  with  any  human  being);  neither  went  I  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  consult  those  who  were  apostles  before  me. 
Listead,  I  went  away  into  Arabia,  and  later  on  returned 
to  Damascus."  How  long  he  spent  in  this  retirement, 
or  into  what  part  of  Arabia  he  went,  we  do  not  know. 
Very  likely  he  spent  some  weeks  in  a  nearby  village, 
convalescing  from  the  weakness  which  resulted  from  his 
stroke  on  the  journey,  reading  the  Scripture  in  a  new 
light,  thinking  over  his  great  experience,  and  making 
up  his  mind  about  questions  which  his  conversion  raised. 

Preaching  in  the  synagogues. — Then  he  came  back 
to  Damascus,  and  "proclaimed  Jesus  in  the  synagogues. 


PAUL'S  CONVERSION  89 

that  he  was  the  Son  of  God."  It  was  strange  that  the 
very  one  who  had  come  there  to  ''make  havoc  of  them 
that  called  upon  this  name"  was  now  preaching  that  the 
Messiah  had  appeared  in  Jesus,  and  many  of  the  dis- 
ciples were,  of  course,  suspicious.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  orthodox  Jews,  who  refused  to  accept  his  teaching, 
were  violently  opposed  to  him. 

"But  Saul  became  more  and  more  outspoken  in 
his  preaching,  and  refuted  the  Jews  who  lived  in 
Damascus,  proving  that  Jesus  was  indeed  the  Mes- 
siah. It  was  not  long,  therefore,  before  they  formed 
a  plot  to  kill  him.  But  Paul  got  wind  of  it,  and 
though  the  gates  were  watched  day  and  night  to  see 
that  he  did  not  escape,  his  disciples  succeeded  in 
lowering  him  down  from  the  wall  one  night  in  a 
basket."— Acts  9:  22-25. 

In  Jerusalem  again. — It  was  now  three  years  since 
Paul  left  Jerusalem  to  visit  Damascus  and  stamp  out 
the  Nazarene  heresy  in  its  synagogues.  The  one-time 
persecutor  was  now  the  most  ardent  missionary.  He 
determined  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  visit  the  apostles 
— whom  he  had  hitherto  not  visited,  though  he  was 
preaching  the  faith  constantly  in  the  synagogues.  The 
Jerusalem  disciples  were  naturally  fearful,  and  hesitated 
to  welcome  him  into  full  fellowship.  Nevertheless, 
Peter  and  James  received  him,  upon  Barnabas'  intro- 
duction, and  he  remained  there  about  two  weeks  (Gal- 
atians  i:  18,  19  and  Acts  9:  26,  27). 

But  just  as  it  had  been  in  Damascus,  so  it  was  here. 
He  preached  boldly  in  the  synagogues,  and,  with  all 
the  ardor  of  a  new  convert,  did  not  hesitate  to  engage 
in  heated  argument  for  the  faith.  His  antagonists,  like 
Stephen's,  seem  to  have  been  Hellenist  Jews  rather 


90    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

than  the  orthodox  Pharisees  or  Sadducees.  And  just  as 
they  had  murdered  Stephen,  so  they  planned  to  kill 
Paul.  Fearing  for  his  safety,  and  perhaps  anxious  lest 
more  persecution  be  stirred  up  like  that  which  followed 
the  death  of  Stephen,  the  brethren  accompanied  Paul 
down  to  Cassarea  and  then  sent  him  on  to  Tarsus. 

In  Syria  and  Cilicia. — Here  he  was,  home  again,  in 
the  famihar,  busy  city  on  the  Cilician  plain.  It  was 
years  since  he  had  been  back,  and  how  different  a  man 
he  was  now!  He  had  a  new  outlook  on  life,  a  new  pur- 
pose, and  that  was  to  proclaim  to  his  own  people  Jesus 
as  their  Messiah;  that  the  Messiah  had  at  last  appeared, 
and  that  he  was  none  other  than  the  Jesus  whom  for- 
merly he  had  persecuted.  Just  as  he  had  begun  preach- 
ing Christ  where  he  once  had  intended  to  crush  out  all 
faith  in  him,  at  Damascus;  just  as  he  had  boldly  pro- 
claimed him  in  Jerusalem,  where  formerly  he  had  led 
in  the  bitter  persecution  of  the  disciples;  so  here,  in  his 
birthplace,  he  now  began  his  labors  as  a  missionary  of 
the  new  faith. 

For  nine  years  he  continued  his  labors  in  Syria  and 
Cilicia — years  about  which  we  know  nothing  save  that, 
as  he  says,  he  was  "still  unknown  by  face  to  the  churches 
in  Judaea.  But  they  only  heard  it  said  that  ^he  who 
once  persecuted  us  now  preaches  the  faith  he  formerly 
destroyed';  and  they  glorified  God  in  me"  (Galatians  i: 
22-24).  They  were  years  of  zealous  missionary  preach- 
ing, years  during  which  the  neighboring  church  in 
Antioch  was  founded  and  steadily  growing;  years  in 
which,  no  doubt,  Paul  was  learning  to  present  more 
calmly  and  persuasively,  and  with  less  of  the  old  pas- 
sionate rabbinic  argument  and  disputation,  the  message 
of  the  Gospel  of  Life.  And  ever  and  again  there  rang 
in  his  ears,  it  may  be,  certain  words  which  he  had  heard 


PAUL'S  CONVERSION  91 

in  a  vision  in  the  Temple,  during  those  short  two  weeks 
he  spent  with  Peter:  ''Depart,  for  I  will  send  thee  forth 
far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles." 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Had  Paul  known  Jesus  before  his  conversion?    Give 

a  reason  for  yotu*  answer. 

2.  How  may  Christianity  have  been  brought  to  Damas- 

cus between  the  years  29  (the  crucifixion)  and  35 
(Paul's  conversion)? 

3.  Read  Galatians  1: 15-24,  Paul's  own  written  accoimt 

of  his  conversion.  Compare  it  with  the  accounts  in 
Acts  9:1-30,  22:3-21,  and  26:12-20.  See  also 
2  Corinthians  11:32,  33. 

4.  Harmonize  with  the  data  in  Galatians  i:  11-24  the 

following  chronology: 
35  A.  D. — Paul's  conversion. 
38  A.  D. — ^Visit  to  Jerusalem  (for  fifteen  days). 
38  A.  D.  to  47  A.  D. — Paul  in  Sjria  and  Cilicia. 

5.  Read  Acts  22: 17-21.    How  does  it  fit  in  with  Acts  9: 

28-30? 

6.  Trace  on  the  map  Paul's  joiuney  to  Damascus;  to 

Jerusalem;  to  Csesarea  and  Tarsus. 

7.  Paul  the  Pharisee  was  scrupulously  honest  with  his 

conscience,  though  a  fanatic  and  persecutor.  Had 
this  anything  to  do  with  his  discovery  of  Christ  and 
his  conversion?   What  lesson  is  there  in  this  for  us? 

8.  Paul  said,  in  after  years,  *T  was  not  disobedient  unto 

the  heavenly  vision"  (Acts  26:  19).  What  did  he 
mean?  Must  we  always  do  the  right  "as  God  gives 
us  to  see  the  right"?  Are  there  ways  for  us  to  obey 
"the  heavenly  vision"? 


CHAPTER  X 

CORNELIUS  THE  CENTURION 

It  was  now  some  years  since  the  death  of  Stephen 
and  the  intense  persecution  of  those  days.  Paul,  the 
arch-persecutor,  was  now  himself  proclaiming  the  mes- 
sage of  the  gospel  in  the  province  of  Syria  and  Cilicia. 
And  in  Palestine  there  was  a  quiet  and  undisturbed 
growth  of  the  church.  The  authorities  had  either  dis- 
covered that  they  could  not  hinder  its  progress  or  else 
concluded  that  it  was  harmless  and  that  its  error  (as 
they  supposed)  would  die  out  in  time.  And  so,  Luke 
says,  "the  church  had  peace  throughout  all  Judaea  and 
Galilee  and  Samaria,  and  was  built  up.  And  walking 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  by  the  help  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  it  grew  and  multiplied"  (Acts  9:  Ji). 

PETER  AT  LYDDA  AND  JOPPA 

There  is  very  little  told  us  of  the  events  of  the  church 
in  Jerusalem  during  this  period.  Indeed,  we  are  fast 
approaching  tPie  end  of  Luke's  narrative  of  such  of  its 
traditions  as  he  incorporates  in  the  book  of  Acts,  for 
the  latter  half  of  the  book  is  almost  entirely  devoted  to 
the  work  of  Paul.  But  such  anecdotes  from  these  early 
days  as  have  been  preserved  tally  quite  well  with  what 
we  have  already  learned.  The  apostles  continued 
preaching  the  gospel  to  their  fellow  Jews — what  the 
message  was,  we  shall  see  again  from  one  more  sermon 
of  Peter's  in  this  chapter.  And  wherever  the  message 
was  preached,  the  "signs  following"  continued — wonder- 
ful healings  of  the  sick,  ecstatic  "speaking  with  tongues," 

92 


CORNELIUS  THE  CENTURION  93 

and  other  proofs  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the 
Spirit. 

The  healing  of  uEneas. — Jerusalem  was  still  the 
headquarters  of  the  Christian  movement.  Peter  and  his 
brother-apostles  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  visit  the 
other  cities  and  villages  to  which  the  gospel  had  spread, 
preaching  and  confirming  the  faith  of  the  believers.^  It 
was  on  one  of  these  pastoral  journeys  that  Peter  visited 
the  ancient  village  of  Lydda  in  the  Philistine  plain. 
Here  he  found  an  aged  man  who  had  been  suffering 
from  paralysis  for  eight  years.  Whether  he  was  a  dis- 
ciple or  not,  we  do  not  know.  But  on  seeing  him,  Peter 
said,  as  he  had  said  long  ago  to  the  lame  man  at  the 
Beautiful  Gate:  ''.Eneas,  Jesus  the  Messiah  heals  you. 
Arise,  and  make  your  bed."  At  once  he  arose.  "And 
all  that  dwelt  in  Lydda  and  the  plain  of  Sharon  saw  him, 
and  they  turned  unto  the  Lord"  (Acts  9:  32-35)- 

The  restoration  of  Dorcas.— While  Peter  was  at 
Lydda  the  disciples  at  Joppa,  the  old  seaside  city  a  few 
miles  distant,  sent  word  asking  him  to  come  at  once. 
A  noble  woman  of  the  community,  Tabitha  by  name 
(they  also   called   her   Dorcas,    ''Gazelle")   had   fallen 
sick  and  died.     Peter  responded  at  once,  and  when 
he  arrived  they  led  him  to  the  upper  chamber  where 
her  body  lay,  cold  and  apparently  lifeless.    "The  widows" 
stood  by,  weeping,  and  showing  the  garments  which 
Dorcas  had  made  for  them  while  she  lived.    But  Peter, 
like    the    ancient    prophet    Elisha,    who   restored    the 
Shunammite's  son;  or,   rather,   like   his  Master,   who 
said,  "The  maid  is  not  dead,  but  sleeps"  (Luke  8:  52), 
at  once  bade  the  mourners  withdraw,  and  knelt  down 
and    prayed.    Then    turning    to    the    body,    he    said, 
"Tabitha,  arise."    And  at  once  she  sat  up,  restored  to 
life  and  consciousness.     The  news,  of  course,  spread 


94    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

throughout  Joppa,  and  ''many/'  Luke  adds,  "believed 
on  the  Lord."  Peter  remained  in  Joppa  several  days  at 
the  home  of  a  man  named,  like  himself,  Simon — a 
tanner. 

The  vision  of  Cornelius. — There  is  one  other  story 
told  of  this  journey  of  Peter  which  Saint  Luke  has 
narrated  in  his  volume.  It  is  given  at  considerable 
length,  for  the  event  was  extremely  important. 

We  must  remember  that  thus  far  the  gospel  had  been 
preached  only  to  Jews — except  by  Philip  to  the  Ethiopian 
treasurer  (who  may  have  been  a  proselyte).  And  we 
must  also  remember  that  the  Jews  beUeved  that  no 
Gentile  could  enter  God's  kingdom  and  be  saved — unless 
he  first  became  a  Jew,  through  belief  in  the  one  God, 
obedience  to  his  law  (the  Law  of  Moses),  and  observance 
of  the  Jewish  customs. 

Now,  there  was  at  that  time  stationed  in  Caesarea, 
the  capital  of  the  province  of  Judaea  and  Samaria,  a 
centurion  of  the  Italian  cohort  (cohors  Italica)  named 
Cornelius.  He  was  a  very  "devout  man,  who  feared 
God  with  all  his  household,  gave  much  ahns  to  the 
people,  and  always  prayed"  (Acts  10:2).  He  reminds 
us  of  the  other  centurion  described  by  Saint  Luke,  who 
built  the  synagogue  at  Capernaum  (Luke  7:5).  It  may 
be  that  he  had  heard  of  Peter  or  the  other  apostles. 
Possibly  he  had  been  to  Jerusalem  and  there  heard  of 
the  followers  of  Jesus.  Or  perhaps  he  had  even  heard 
the  preaching  of  Philip  (Acts  8:40).  At  any  rate  he 
had  a  vision,  one  afternoon  about  three,  at  the  hour  of 
prayer,  in  which  an  angel  appeared  to  him  and  directed 
bim  to  send  to  Joppa  for  Peter.  Cornelius  at  once  called 
two  of  his  servants,  and  one  of  the  faithful  soldiers  who 
formed  his  bodyguard,  told  them  of  the  vision,  and 
sent  them  to  Joppa. 


CORNELIUS  THE  CENTURION  95 

Peter's  vision. — Stranger  still  was  a  vision  which 
Peter  had  the  following  day.  It  was  about  noon,  and 
he  had  gone  up  on  the  housetop  to  pray.  He  was  hungry, 
but  the  light  noon  meal  was  not  yet  ready.  (Jews  often 
ate  no  lunch,  only  breakfast  and  dinner;  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  ate  three  meals  like  us.)  As  he  prayed  he 
fell  into  a  trance,  and  saw  a  strange  vessel  descending 
from  the  sky.  It  seemed  like  a  vast  sheet  suspended 
from  heaven  by  the  four  corners,  and  in  it  were  aU  sorts 
of  animals  and  fowls.  It  seemed  to  him  that  he  heard 
a  voice  saying,  "Rise,  Peter,  kill  and  eat."  This  was 
shocking  to  a  faithful  Jew,  for  the  Old  Testament  for- 
bade many  kinds  of  animal  food,  and  the  Jews  strictly 
observed  the  laws  about  clean  and  unclean  meats  (as 
orthodox  Jews  still  do).  Peter  replied,  "Not  so.  Lord;  for  I 
have  never  eaten  anything  common  or  unclean."  And  a 
second  time  the  voice  was  heard,  answering  his  scruples, 
"What  God  has  cleansed  make  not  thou  common."  Three 
times  the  vision  appeared;  and  at  last  it  vanished,  being 
"received  up  into  heaven."  It  was  evident  that  some 
mysterious  significance  was  to  be  attached  to  this 
vision,  something  more  than  a  mere  matter  of  food. 
What  it  was  Peter  soon  was  to  learn. 

Peter's  visit  to  c^esarea 

While  he  mused  over  what  he  had  seen  and  heard 
the  three  messengers  of  CorneHus  arrived  at  the  outer 
gate  of  Simon's  house  and  called  for  Peter.  He  at  once 
went  down  and  welcomed  them,  and  upon  learning  of 
their  mission  prepared  to  accompany  them  to  Caesarea 
the  next  day. 

In  Cornelius*  house. — Peter's  readiness  to  accom- 
pany Gentiles  and  to  accept  the  hospitahty  of  a  Gentile 
officer's  home  was  not  due  to  his  dream  on  the  tanner's 


96    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

housetop;  it  was  the  prompting  of  the  Spirit  which  led 
him  (Acts  lo:  19,  20).  Otherwise  the  journey  might 
never  have  been  taken. 

It  was  an  overnight  journey  to  Caesarea,  northward 
along  the  coast.  The  next  day  when  they  arrived  they 
found  Cornelius,  with  his  relatives  and  close  friends, 
waiting  for  Peter.  The  salutation  of  Cornelius  was  a 
profound  act  of  reverence,  which  Peter  refused  to 
accept,  as  it  was  worship  due  only  to  God.  Gk>ing  into 
the  house,  he  found  a  large  company  gathered  together 
to  hear  him.  Feeling  strange  in  such  company,  actually 
a  guest  in  a  Gentile  home,  Peter  felt  that  some  apology 
was  necessary — even  at  the  risk  of  rudeness  to  his  host. 
So  he  explained  his  vision  (Acts  10:  28-29). 

Then  Cornelius  related  his  experience  and  the  com- 
mand which  he  had  received  to  send  for  Peter.  "And 
so  we  are  all  present  here  in  the  sight  of  God,"  he  added, 
"to  hear  whatever  has  been  commanded  you  by  the  Lord." 

Peter's  sermon. — So  Peter  began  with  a  simple, 
straightforward  explanation  of  the  disciples'  belief  in 
Jesus. 

"Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and 
worketh  righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him.  The 
word  which  he  sent  to  the  children  of  Israel,  preach- 
ing good  tidings  of  peace  by  Jesus  Christ  (he  is 
Lord  of  all) — ^that  sajdng  ye  yourselves  know,  which 
was  published  throughout  all  Judaea,  beginning  from 
Galilee,  after  the  baptism  which  John  preached; 
even  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  how  that  God  anointed  him 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power:  who  went 
about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  op- 
pressed of  the  devil,  for  God  was  with  him.  And 
we  are  witnesses  of  all  things  which  he  did  both  in 


CORNELIUS  THE  CENTURION  97 

the  country  of  the  Jews  and  in  Jerusalem;  whom 
also  they  slew,  hangmg  him  on  a  tree.  Hun  God 
raised  up  the  third  day,  and  gave  him  to  be  made 
manifest,  not  to  all  the  people,  but  unto  witnesses 
that  were  chosen  before  of  God,  even  to  us,  who 
did  eat  and  drink  with  him  after  he  rose  from  the 
dead.  And  he  charged  us  to  preach  unto  the  people, 
and  to  testify  that  this  is  he  who  is  ordained  of  God 
to  be  the  Judge  of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  To  him 
bear  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name 
every  one  that  believes  in  him  shall  receive  remis- 
sion of  sins."— Acts  lo:  34-43- 

The  gift  of  tongues. — He  had  gone  no  further  than 
this  in  his  sermon  when  a  strange  interruption  occurred 
—especially  strange  it  seems  to  us,  though  common 
enough  in  the  early  Christian  churches.  "The  Holy 
Spirit  descended  on  all  who  heard  him,"  and  they  began 
to  ''speak  with  tongues"  and  glorify  God.  This  was 
not  the  first  time  in  Peter's  experience  that  this  had 
occurred;  but  what  was  most  strange  was  that  this  was 
the  first  time  it  had  ever  happened  to  Gentiles!  Here- 
tofore only  Jews  had  ''received  the  gift  of  the  Spirit." 
Those  who  accompanied  Peter,  Jews  like  himseK  and 
disciples  of  Jesus,  were  equally  amazed  to  hear  Gentiles 
speaking  in  this  manner,  even  as  orthodox  Jewish  be- 
lievers in  Jesus. 

Peter  stopped  his  sermon  and  asked,  "Can  anyone 
forbid  the  baptism  of  these,  who  have  aheady  received 
the  Holy  Spirit,  even  as  we?"  And  so  they  were  baptized 
then  and  there— the  first  Gentiles  to  be  converted  to 
Christianity.  Peter  remained  with  them  for  some  tune, 
teaching  them  no  doubt  about  Jesus  and  relating  the 
story  of  the  apostles'  work  in  Jerusalem  since  the  day 
of  Pentecost. 


98    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Peter's  rettim  to  Jerusalem. — But  as  soon  as  Peter 
returned  to  Jerusalem  there  were  some  who  thought  he 
should  not  have  accepted  Gentile  hospitality.  It  was 
aU  very  well  for  Gentiles  to  hear  and  believe  the  gospel. 
But  as  for  fellowship  with  them,  Peter,  as  a  good  Jew, 
should  never  have  accepted  it — for  it  meant  giving  up 
the  observance  of  the  Law's  requirement  regarding 
food.  Gentiles  paid  no  attention  to  the  Law's  "dis- 
tinction of  meats." 

Peter's  reply  was  to  relate  just  what  had  taken  place : 
his  vision  and  his  visit  and  the  prompting  of  the  Spirit; 
above  all  the  "speaking  with  tongues"  by  his  Gentile 
hearers,  the  gift  of  God  himself. 

"If  then  God  gave  npto  them  the  like  gift  as  he 
did  also  unto  us,  when  we  believed  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  was  I  that  I  could  withstand 
God?"— Acts  11:17. 

With  this  their  objections  were  silenced,  and  they  gave 
thanks  to  God  that  even  to  the  Gentiles  he  had  granted 
"repentance  unto  life." 

It  was  truly  a  great  moment  in  Christian  history 
when  these  words  were  uttered. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up  Lydda,  Joppa,  and  Cassarea  on  the  map. 

Measure  the  distance  from  Joppa  to  Caesarea. 

2.  What  did  the  title  **centtirion"  signify?    There  were 

five  cohorts  of  infantry  and  one  ala  of  cavalry 
stationed  at  Caesarea  for  the  military  control  of 
Palestine  (that  is,  the  province  of  Judaea-Samaria). 
Look  up  the  ntimber  of  men  in  cohort  and  ala,  and 
give  the  total  for  the  Roman  "army  of  occupation." 

3.  Look  up  the  story  of  the  restoration  of  Jairus'  daughter 


CORNELIUS  THE  CENTURION  99 

(Luke  8:40-42,  49-56)  and  compare  it  with  the 
restoration  of  Dorcas  (Acts  9:  36-42). 

4.  Had  the  form  of  Peter's  vision  any  connection,  do  you 

think,  with  the  fact  that  he  was  hungry?  The 
greatest  significance  of  the  vision  was  not,  of  course, 
that  he  saw  food,  but  that  he  was  commanded  to 
eat  food  hitherto  forbidden. 

5.  What  were  the  main  points  of  Peter's  address  in  Cor- 

neHus'  house? 

6.  What  was  the  significance  of  the  ''outpouring"  of  the 

Spirit  on  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews?— (To  Peter,  and 
those  who  were  with  him,  and  to  the  "apostles  and 
brethren"  in  Jerusalem.) 

7.  Are  there  any  traits  in  the  characters  of  Saint  Peter 

and  Cornelius  the  Centurion  which  you  especially 
admire?  Describe  the  two  men,  and  name  any  other 
persons  of  whom  they  remind  you.  How  may  they 
be  imitated  to  advantage? 

8.  The  Holy  Spirit  appeared  in  an  unexpected  quarter 

when  Gentiles  began  to  "speak  with  tongues."  Are 
there  new  ways  in  which  the  Spirit  moves  men  to- 
day, do  you  think,  which  many  persons  do  not 
expect?— for  example,  good  movements  begun  out- 
side the  church.  Should  we  recognize  in  them  the 
hand  of  God? 


CHAPTER  XI 
CHRISTIANITY  REACHES  ANTIOCH 

As  we  have  seen,  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  the 
book  of  Acts  describe  the  gradual  expansion  of  the 
church  in  Palestine,  from  the  eleven  disciples  gathered 
in  the  upper  room  just  after  the  resurrection  to  the 
time  when  Christianity  first  began  to  spread  beyond 
the  borders  of  the  Jewish  land.  The  remainder  of  the 
book  (chapters  13-28)  is  devoted  almost  entirely  to  the 
work  of  Paul  and  shows  the  further  development  of  the 
Christian  mission  in  the  provinces  along  the  north  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean  until  it  reached  Rome  itself  and 
Paul  found  hearers  in  the  very  capital  of  the  empire. 
In  this  latter  part  of  the  book  Luke  has  made  use  of  a 
diary  written  by  someone  who  accompanied  Paul  on 
certain  of  his  journeys — most  probably,  Luke  himself, 
Paul's  physician  and  traveling  companion.  This  is  very 
different  from  the  earher  part  of  the  volume,  where  his 
sources  were  the  accounts  which  had  been  handed 
down  in  Palestine  or  elsewhere,  stories  which  he  had 
been  told  by  men  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  events 
related,  even  from  the  days  of  the  first  "eyewitnesses 
and  ministers  of  the  Word."  These  stories  which 
record  the  origin  and  earliest  development  of  our  religion 
can  teach  us  much  if  we  study  them  carefully  and 
sympathetically. 

A  religious  movement. — In  the  first  place,  the 
church  was  not  a  school  of  philosophy.  There  were  many 
such  schools  in  the  ancient  world.  Teachers  of  Stoicism, 
Epicureanism,  Platonism,  Cynicism  were  to  be  found  in 

100 


CHRISTIANITY  REACHES  ANTIOCH      loi 

every  great  city — many  of  them  teaching  on  the  street 
corners  or  in  hired  halls  to  crowds  of  Hsteners.  But  the 
church  was  the  expression  or  outward  manifestation  of 
a  new  religion  taking  powerful  hold  of  the  souls  of  men. 
And  religion  in  ancient  times  was  always  belief  in  the 
"supernatural."  Without  miracles  it  is  difficult  to  see 
how  the  Christian  religion  could  ever  have  originated 
or  spread  abroad  in  the  world  in  which  it  arose.  Every- 
one in  those  days  believed  in  miracles — Jews,  Greeks, 
barbarians.  A  miracle  was  the  surest  proof  of  the 
divine  authority  of  a  teacher  and  of  God's  approval  of 
his  teaching. 

Its  spread  among  the  poor. — In  the  second  place, 
Christianity  arose  among  the  lowly.  It  was  not  the 
educated,  or  the  wealthy,  or  the  socially  prominent 
who  crowded  into  the  church  by  the  thousands  (Acts  2 : 
41  and  4:4)  in  the  first  days.  "Not  many  wise,  not 
many  noble  have  part  therein;  but  God  has  chosen  the 
weak  ones  of  earth  to  put  to  shame  the  strong"  (i  Cor- 
inthians i:  26,  27).  It  was  the  religion  of  workingmen 
and  women,  poor  artisans  and  peasants,  publicans  and 
fishers  and  villagers,  and  it  was  destined  soon  to  win 
soldiers,  tentmakers  and  dyers,  and  slaves  attached  to 
the  great  households  in  the  chief  cities.  The  religious 
authorities  of  the  Jewish  people  at  Jerusalem  despised 
the  new  sect  as  "men  ignorant  of  the  Law,"  and  there- 
fore having  no  right  to  teach  the  people.  It  seemed 
absurd,  to  the  educated  priests  and  rabbis  of  the  capital, 
for  Galilsean  peasants  and  fishermen  to  be  proclaiming 
the  Messiahship  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
whom  they  had  put  to  death.  The  names  of  believers 
mentioned  in  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  the  Acts  are 
the  names  of  obscure  men  and  women,  made  great  only 
by  their  devotion  to  Jesus  and  the  gospel,  or  preserved 


102     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

to  later  history  only  by  their  relation  to  its  earliest 
teachers. 

Its  rapid  growth. — In  the  third  place,  these  old 
traditions  reflect  an  exceedingly  rapid  extension  of  the 
Christian  movement.  The  story  of  Pentecost  with  men 
from  almost  every  region  of  the  Jewish  Dispersion  in 
the  audience  of  the  apostles,  and  three  thousand  baptized 
on  a  single  day,  can  scarcely  be  an  exaggeration.  Per- 
secution, when  it  came,  served  only  to  extend  the  preach- 
ing of  the  message.  Even  martyrdom,  as  in  the  death 
of  Stephen,  impressed  the  persecutors  with  the  courage 
and  faith  of  the  disciples,  and  broke  down  the  wall  of 
bigotry  and  prejudice.  If  we  make  a  hst  of  the  cities 
and  districts  mentioned  in  Luke's  narrative  up  to  the 
first  missionary  journey  of  Paul  (that  is,  which  were 
evangelized  in  the  eighteen  years  between  29  and  47 
A.  D.),  we  discover  the  following:  Jerusalem  (Acts  2:5, 
etc.),  the  cities  near  by  (5:  16),  the  regions  of  Judaea 
and  Samaria  (8:1;  11:29),  ^^  city  of  Samaria  (8:5), 
many  villages  of  Samaria  (8:  25),  Azotus  (8: 40),  Caesarea 
(8:40;  10:1),  Damascus  (9:2,  10,  19),  Tarsus  (9:30, 
11:25),  Galilee  (9:31),  Lydda  (9:32),  Sharon  (9:35), 
Joppa  (9:36),  Phoenicia,  Cyprus,  Antioch  (11:19) — 
fourteen  are  mentioned  by  name,  not  countiag  "the 
cities  near  by."  To  these  should  be  added,  perhaps, 
Ethiopia  (8:39),  with  its  one  messenger  of  the  gospel, 
the  steward  of  the  royal  treasury;  and  Cyrene  (11:  20), 
if  we  are  to  translate  "men  from  Cyrene." 

No  mention  is  made  of  Egypt;  but  if  Ethiopia  and 
Cyrene  were  evangelized  this  early,  surely  Alexandria 
must  have  heard  the  good  tidings,  for  there  was  in  the 
whole  world  no  greater  center  of  both  orthodox  and 
Hellenistic  Judaism  than  the  great  cosmopolitan  city  in 
the  Nile  delta,  with  its  million  or  more  Jews — over  half 


CHRISTIANITY  REACHES  ANTIOCH      103 

the  city's  total  population.  We  infer  from  tradition  and 
from  the  later  strength  of  the  church  there  that  Alex- 
andria received  the  gospel  early;  but  no  records  have 
come  down  to  us,  and  the  early  history  of  the  church  in 
Egypt  is  quite  obscure.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Paul, 
who  refused  to  labor  in  any  other  man's  field,  never 
even  mentions  Egypt,  though  for  years  he  cherished  the 
plan  of  visiting  Rome,  and  even  Spain,  on  the  very 
"borders  of  the  west."  Moreover,  Apollos,  one  of  the 
most  gifted  preachers  of  apostolic  times,  came  to  Ephesus 
from  Alexandria  and  taught  in  the  church  there  (Acts 
18:  24,  25).  That  other  cities,  not  mentioned  in  Acts, 
should  be  added  to  this  list  is  beyond  doubt.  The  record 
of  Luke  is  incomplete,  and  there  must  have  been  dis- 
ciples in  the  cities  and  villages  visited  by  Jesus  during 
his  ministry  and  mentioned  in  the  Gospels  (for  example, 
Bethany,  Emmaus,  Jericho,  Arimathaea,  Nazareth,  Sychar, 
Chorazin,  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  Cana,  Nain). 

THE  GOSPEL  TO  THE  GENTILES 

It  was  Luke's  main  purpose  in  writing  the  Acts  to 
show  how  Christianity  spread  geographically  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Rome,  and  was  gradually  planted  in  all  the 
chief  cities  of  the  northern  and  eastern  part  of  the 
empire.  But  he  has  also  shown  Christianity  overstep- 
ping the  narrow  bounds  of  the  Jewish  religion,  with  its 
ancient,  now  antiquated  beliefs  and  conceptions.  The 
Jews  believed  that  no  one  could  be  saved  without 
accepting  Judaism,  and  the  earhest  followers  of  Jesus  in 
Jerusalem  shared  this  belief.  If  any  but  Jews  heard  the 
gospel  and  desired  to  be  baptized,  they  must  also  take 
upon  themselves  the  "yoke  of  the  Law,"  receive  its 
rites,  and  share  its  obligations.  Christianity  to  them 
was  not  a  new  universal  religion;  it  was  only  a  higher, 


104    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

purified  and  perfected  form  of  Judaism.  The  baptism 
of  the  Ethiopian  was  no  exception,  for  he  was  perhaps 
already  a  proselyte  to  the  Jewish  faith.  And  Cornelius 
and  his  family  were  "God-fearing";  they  leaned  strongly 
toward  Judaism,  and  were  Jews  in  everything  but  the 
name.  Still,  as  we  have  seen,  Peter's  fellowship  with 
Gentiles,  especially  in  eating  at  table  with  them,  caused 
consternation  among  the  orthodox  disciples  at  Jeru- 
salem. His  only  apology  was  the  fact  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  had  been  given  them,  "even  as  it  was  given  us 
at  the  first." 

But  the  day  was  soon  coming  when  the  doors  of  the 
church  would  be  thrown  wide  open  to  the  Gentiles.  The 
man  who  opened  them  widest  and  stood  most  firmly 
for  the  principle  of  freedom  was  Saint  Paul,  who  called 
himself  "Apostle  to  the  Gentiles."  He  was  the  strongest 
advocate  of  religious  freedom  in  all  the  early  church — 
but  he  was  not  the  first.  Already,  tendencies  were 
operative  which  were  leading  inevitably  in  this  direction. 
It  would  not  be  long  until  the  church  irresistibly 
broke  over  the  barriers.  Luke  has  indicated  this 
very  clearly  in  his  account  of  the  church  in  Antioch 
(Acts  II :  19-26). 

The  Gospel  preached  in  Antioch. — Antioch  was  the 
third  largest  city  in  the  empire.  It  was  formed  of  four 
unwaUed  cities  which  had  grown  up  side  by  side  at 
different  times  on  the  banks  of  the  Orontes  River,  eight 
miles  from  its  mouth  at  Seleucia,  and  were  later  inclosed 
within  one  large  wall  with  towers.  Its  streets  and 
public  buildings  were  among  the  finest  in  the  world.  A 
large  part  of  its  population  was  Jewish,  and  in  addition 
there  was  a  large  body  of  proselytes.  Although  a  center 
of  learning,  its  fame  was  due,  rather,  to  its  luxury  and 
lax  ways  of  living.    It  was  a  wealthy  city  and  busy,  but 


CHRISTIANITY  REACHES  ANTIOCH      105 

corrupt.  It  was  the  queen  of  the  Levant,  and  was 
destined  to  become  a  key-city  in  the  expansion  of  early 
Christianity.  And  at  the  same  time  its  own  need  of 
the  gospel  was  immense. 

How  Christianity  spread. — On  account  of  the  large 
Jewish  colony  it  was  quite  natural  that  when  the  church 
in  Jerusalem  was  scattered  at  the  time  of  Stephen's 
martyrdom,  some  of  the  disciples  should  take  refuge  in 
Antioch.    And  so  Luke  records: 

"They  traveled  as  far  as  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus  and 
Antioch,  speaking  the  word  to  none  save  only  to 
Jews.  But  there  were  some  of  them,  men  from 
Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  who  when  they  were  come  to 
Antioch  spake  unto  the  Greeks  also,  preaching  the 
Lord  Jesus.  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with 
them,  and  a  great  number  of  them  believed  and 
turned  unto  the  Lord. 

"The  report  concerning  them  came  to  the  ears  of 
the  church  in  Jerusalem,  and  they  sent  forth  Barna- 
bas as  far  as  Antioch;  who,  when  he  came  and  saw 
the  grace  of  God,  was  glad;  and  he  exhorted  them 
all  that  with  purpose  of  heart  they  should  cleave 
unto  the  Lord.  He  was  a  good  man  and  full  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  of  faith,  and  much  people  was  added 
unto  the  Lord.  And  he  went  forth  to  Tarsus  to  seek 
for  Saul,  and  when  he  had  found  him  brought  him 
to  Antioch.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  for  a  whole 
year  they  remained  there  with  the  church,  and 
taught  much  people;  and  the  disciples  were  called 
Christians  first  in  Antioch."— Acts  11 :  19-26. 

Thus  Christianity  spread,  in  those  far-off  days,  chiefly 
by  the  word  of  mouth  of  anonymous  disciples,  men 
whose  hearts  overflowed  with  the  message,  so  that  they 
could  not  keep  silent  but  had  to  speak.   It  is  noteworthy 


io6    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

also,  in  this  narrative,  how  the  mother-church  in  Jeru- 
salem kept  in  close  touch  with  the  daughter-churches  in 
other  cities.  Barnabas  was  sent  down  to  oversee  the 
conduct  of  the  church  in  Antioch,  just  as  Peter  and 
John  had  been  sent  down  to  Samaria  while  Philip  was 
preaching  there  (Acts  8: 14).  Peter  had  gone  on  a  pas- 
toral tour  of  the  churches  in  Judaea  (Acts  9:32)  and 
when  he  returned  gave  a  report  to  the  "apostles  and 
brethren'^  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  11:1-18).  There  were 
no  settled  pastors  in  these  scattered  churches,  only 
"prophets"  and  "teachers"  (Acts  11:27;  13:1)  who 
served  as  missionaries  of  the  gospel,  instructors  of  the 
new  converts  (as  "ministers  of  the  word,"  teaching  the 
life  of  Jesus  and  repeating  his  words — Luke  1:2,  4), 
and  speakers  with  tongues.  Some  of  them  possessed 
extraordinary  powers  of  prophecy — Luke  gives  a  brief 
narrative  of  the  prophecy  of  Agabus,  one  of  the  prophets 
who  came  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  and,  like 
Elijah  of  old,  announced  a  great  famine  which  was  soon 
to  come  over  the  world,  which  took  place  shortly  after- 
ward, as  Luke  says,  "in  the  days  of  Claudius."  When 
the  famine  came  the  disciples  in  the  other  churches 
took  up  a  collection,  "every  man  according  to  his  ability," 
for  the  rehef  of  their  poor  fellow  believers  in  Judaea. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  had  charge  of  this  relief  fund,  and 
delivered  it  to  the  "elders"  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  11:30).^ 
The  charity  of  the  early  church,  its  care  of  the  poor, 
its  unity  and  fellowship,  its  simple  organization  under 
the  oversight  and  control  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at 
Jerusalem,  its  gradual  expansion  until  it  finally  reached 


1  Note  that  it  was  the  "elders"  who  had  the  care  of  the  poor,  as  the  original 
seven  "deacons"  (Acts  6:  S)  were  either  now  dead  or  scattered  over  Palestine.  Or 
it  may  be  that  "elders,"  not  "deacons,"  was  the  name  by  which  they  were  com- 
monly known.     They  are  not  given  any  title  in  Acts  6. 


CHRISTIANITY  REACHES  ANTIOCH      107 

and  overstepped  the  limits  both  of  Jewish  territory  and 
Jewish  legalism — all  this  is  clearly  recognizable  from  the 
traditions  which  Luke  records  in  the  early  chapters  of 
the  Acts. 

PETER  RELEASED  FROM  PRISON 

There  is  one  more  brief  narrative,  connected  with  the 
reign  of  Herod  Agrippa,  which  Luke  inserts  in  his  history 
before  he  begins  with  the  epoch-making  career  of 
Paul. 

A  new  Jewish  king. — Herod  Agrippa  I  was  king  of 
all  Palestine.  He  was  the  grandson  of  the  old  King 
Herod  '^the  Great,"  who  died  in  4  B.  C,  and  he  was 
bosom  friend  of  the  Emperor  Caligula.  In  37  A.  D.  he 
received  from  the  Emperor  the  title  of  king,  and  for  a 
kingdom  the  former  tetrarchies  of  Philip  and  Lysanias 
in  northern  and  eastern  Palestine.  When  Antipas  died 
in  the  year  40,  Galilee  and  Peraea  were  added  to  his 
territory.  The  Emperor  Claudius,  whom  Agrippa  used 
his  influence  to  elect,  added  in  41  the  Province  of  Judaea 
(formerly  under  the  rule  of  procurators)  to  his  kingdom, 
so  that  for  a  time  he  controlled  all  Palestine.  The  Holy 
Land  was  thus  once  more  completely  under  the  rule  of 
a  Jewish  king — as  in  the  days  of  his  grandfather  Herod, 
of  Simon  the  Maccabee,  of  David  and  Solomon.  The 
Jewish  historian  Josephus,  writing  after  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem,  describes  him  as  a  pious  and  gentle  monarch, 
devoted  to  the  Pharisaic  study  and  observance  of  the 
Law,  and  a  great  favorite  with  his  people.  His  reign 
was  brief,  for  he  died  in  the  year  44. 

Fresh  persecution. — For  all  his  gentleness  and 
legalistic  piety,  he  was  a  persecutor  of  the  Christians— 
in  order,  as  Luke  relates,  to  please  the  (orthodox)  Jews 
(Acts    12:3).    James  the  brother  of  John  was  put  to 


io8    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

death  with  the  sword,  and  henceforth  we  find  another 
James,  "the  brother  of  the  Lord"  (that  is,  Jesus'  brother), 
at  the  head  of  the  community  in  Jerusalem.  Seeing 
that  this  act  was  approved  by  the  majority  of  his  sub- 
jects, Agrippa  next  ordered  Peter  imprisoned,  about  the 
time  of  Passover. 

The  story  of  Peter's  imprisonment,  the  prayers  of  the 
church  for  his  safety,  the  account  of  his  miraculous 
release  by  an  angel,  his  return  to  the  house  where  the 
disciples  were  gathered  and  the  alarm  of  the  maid  who 
answered  his  knock  at  the  gate  and  could  not  believe 
it  was  really  Peter — this  story  is  related  with  great 
detail  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Acts.  It  is  ahnost  the 
last  of  the  traditions  of  the  early  Jerusalem  church,  and 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  all  reHgious  Hterature. 
What  is  especially  noteworthy  for  our  purpose,  as 
picturing  the  condition  of  the  primitive  church,  is  the 
assembly  of  the  Christians  at  the  home  of  Mary,  the 
mother  of  John  Mark  (Acts  12:  12) — evidently  a  well- 
to-do  house,  with  gateway,  porter's  door,  and  inner 
court.  The  Christians  in  Jerusalem  still  attended  the 
services  in  the  Temple,  and  observed  the  hours  of  prayer; 
those  outside  Jerusalem,  like  their  fellow  Jews  every- 
where, went  to  worship  in  the  synagogues.  But  in 
addition,  they  had  their  meetings  for  prayer  and  instruc- 
tion and  fellowship  in  the  homes  of  believers,  where  also 
they  observed  the  breaking  of  the  bread,  after  the 
example  of  their  Lord.  The  upper  room,  perhaps  in 
Mary's  house,  was  a  place  sacred  to  the  apostles  and 
brethren,  for  here  Jesus  had  eaten  the  Passover  with  his 
disciples  before  he  died.  But  in  their  own  homes  as  well 
they  "broke  bread,"  "with  gladness  and  singleness  of 
heart,"  praising  God  and  telling  the  good  news  of  Jesus 
and  his  kingdom  to  all  who  would  listen  to  them — but 


CHRISTIANITY  REACHES  ANTIOCH      109 

still  for  the  most  part  "speaking  the  word  to  none  save 
Jews." 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Read  the  story  of  Peter's  release  from  prison  (Acts 

12:  1-19).  Who  were  the  authorities  of  the  church 
in  Jerusalem,  as  reflected  in  this  tradition  (see  verse 
17)?  What  can  you  say  of  the  organization  of  the 
church  at  this  time?  What  were  the  duties  of  the 
"prophets  and  teachers"?  "the  elders"?  the  apos- 
tles? 

2.  Look  up  some  of  the  following  instances  of  the  "church 

in  the  house"  among  the  early  Christians:  Acts  i: 
13;  2:46;  4:23;  5:42;  9-19,  43;  10-33:  11:26; 
12:12.  For  the  expression,  see  Romans  16:5. 
Describe  the  worship  of  the  early  Christians  at  this 
date. 

3.  Draw  a  map  showing  the  expansion  of  the  church  in 

the  first  eighteen  years  of  its  existence  (before  Paul's 
first  missionary  journey — ^Acts  1-12),  locating  the 
cities  and  districts  evangelized  in  this  period  (cities 
with  red  dots;  districts  with  fine,  red  shading). 

4.  Make  a  list  of  the  beHevers  mentioned  by  name  in 

these  early  chapters  of  Acts.  Of  how  many  of  them 
do  you  know  anything  more  than  their  names? 
See  Acts  i:  13,  23;  3:  2;  4:36;  5:  i;  6:  5;  8:  13,  27; 
9-  i»  33,  36,  43;  10:  i;  11:28;  12:  12,  13,  17;  13:  I. 
Only  thirty-seven  are  mentioned  by  name — thirty- 
seven  out  of  several  thousand — and  these  for  the 
most  part  obscure  men  and  women.  What  does 
this  suggest  as  to  the  condition  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians, and  the  class  among  whom  the  new  faith 
spread  most  widely? 

5.  Recall  the  sermons  described  or  quoted  in  the  first 

twelve  chapters  of  Acts.  W^hat  were  the  main 
points  of  the  gospel  which  the  early  apostles 
presented?    (See,  for  example,  Acts  2:  22-40;  3:  12- 


no    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

26;  4:9-12;  5*- 30-32;  10:34-43.)  Note  especially 
what  was  said  regarding  (i)  the  ministry  of  Jesus 
and  his  Messiahship;  (2)  his  death  and  resurrection; 
(3)  the  Holy  Spirit;  (4)  the  coming  judgment; 
(5)  the  need  for  repentance. 

6.  What  was  the  importance  of  miracles  in  the  early 

church  ? 

7.  Why  was  the  earliest  preaching  of  the  gospel  limited 

to  Jews? 

8.  If  Christianity  spread  to-day  as  it  did  in  the  first 

century,  what  would  be  some  of  the  features  in  its 
expansion?  How  might  it  spread  in  your  own  town 
or  neighborhood?  Imagine  the  part  you  yourself 
might  take  in  it.  Is  there  any  reason  why  the  exten- 
sion of  the  church  should  be  left  entirely  to  mis- 
sionaries and  clergymen? 


PART  TWO 
THE  WORK  OF  PAUL 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  GOSPEL  IN  CYPRUS  AND  GALATIA 

It  was  now  nine  years  (38-47  A.  D.)  since  Paul  had 
gone  from  Jerusalem  to  work  in  Syria  and  Cilicia. 
Except  for  the  brief  visit  at  the  time  of  the  famine 
(Acts  11:30;  compare  Galatians  1:22-24)  he  had  not 
been  in  Jerusalem  all  this  time.  What  results  he  saw 
from  his  preaching  in  Cilicia  we  do  not  know.  At 
Antioch,  however,  the  church  was  growing  steadily,  and 
Paul's  year  there  with  Barnabas  (Acts  11:  25,  26)  was  a 
busy  one,  while  he  "taught  much  people"  and  preached 
the  gospel  week  after  week.  Among  the  leaders  of  the 
church  in  Antioch,  the  "prophets  and  teachers"  were 
Barnabas,  Simeon  Niger  (that  is,  the  African?);  Lucius 
of  Cyrene;  Manaen,  the  foster  brother  of  Herod  the 
tetrarch;  and  Paul  (Acts  13:  i). 

PREACHING  IN  CYPRUS 

Some  of  these  were  no  doubt  the  "men  of  Cyprus  and 
Cyrene"  who  had  come  to  Antioch  and  preached  to 
Gentiles  (Acts  11:20).  Naturally,  they  would  be 
anxious  to  spread  the  gospel  among  their  own  people. 
We  are  not  surprised,  then,  to  read  that  "as  they  min- 
istered to  the  Lord,  and  fasted,  the  Holy  Spirit  said, 
^Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto 
I  have  called  them.'  " 

The  missionaries  set  apart. — The  time  had  come 
for  another  step  to  be  taken  in  the  westward  advance 
of  Christianity  across  the  empire.  So  after  the 
"prophets"  had  fasted  and  prayed  they  laid  their  hands 
upon  the  heads  of  the  two  missionaries,  thus  solemnly 

113 


114    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

consecrating  them  to  their  new  work,  and  sent  them 
away. 

Paul's  plans. — Barnabas  was  a  native  of  Cyprus 
(Acts  4:36f.).  It  was  therefore  quite  natural  that  he 
should  be  chosen  for  this  mission.  The  choice  of  Paul 
was  doubtless  due  both  to  his  success  already  achieved 
in  Tarsus  and  Antioch  and  to  his  eagerness  to  spread 
the  message  still  farther  among  both  Jews  and  Gentiles. 
We  can  easily  imagine  how  he  planned  his  work  in  order 
to  reach  the  greatest  number  in  the  shortest  time. 
He  would  visit  the  great  metropolitan  key-cities  in  the 
various  provinces,  staying  just  long  enough  to  get  a 
church  started,  and  then  press  on  to  more  distant 
regions.  Cyprus,  the  old  home  of  his  companion  Bar- 
nabas, was  only  a  stepping-stone  on  the  way  to  Galatia, 
Asia,  and  Europe! 

At  Salamis. — Bidding  farewell  to  the  church,  the  two 
missionaries  went  down  from  Antioch  to  Seleucia,  the 
seaport,  and  took  ship  for  Cyprus.  Some  of  the  brethren 
no  doubt  came  to  see  them  off  and  stood  on  the  great 
stone  pier  (fragments  of  which  still  remain,  running  far 
out  beneath  the  water),  and  waved  good-by  as  the  small 
wooden  coaster  got  slowly  under  way.  At  last  only  its 
angular  lateen  sails  could  be  seen,  far  out  over  the  blue 
waters,  as  it  headed  west-southwest  for  Cyprus.  The 
route  covered  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  or  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles — eighty  miles  to  the  northeast 
tip  of  the  island  and  the  remainder  coastwise,  with  the 
Olympian  range  of  mountains  in  full  view.  The  voyage 
probably  took  the  best  part  of  a  day  and  a  night. 

Salamis  was  the  eastern  port  of  Cyprus,  with  roads 
forking  west,  northwest  and  southwest  toward  the  in- 
terior of  the  island.  Here  Paul  and  Barnabas  dis- 
embarked,   and   preached   the   gospel   in   the   Jewish 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  CYPRUS  AND  GALATIA     115 

synagogues.  They  must  have  remained  several  weeks 
in  order  to  preach  in  more  than  one.  It  is  not  said  that 
they  preached  to  Gentiles,  though  they  doubtless  did, 
as  well  as  to  Jews.  It  may  even  be  that  Salamis  was  the 
birthplace  of  Barnabas,  and  that  he  had  relatives  there 
with  whom  the  apostles  stayed.  Luke  says  that  they 
"had  John  as  their  attendant."  This  was  John  Mark, 
the  cousin  of  Barnabas,  whose  mother  owned  the  house 
in  Jerusalem  used  by  the  church  (Acts  12: 12),  and  who 
was  later  to  write  the  Gospel  known  by  his  name. 

At  Paphos. — Leaving  Salamis  after  some  weeks,  they 
journeyed  through  the  island  toward  Paphos,  its  port  on 
the  southwest  coast.  Cyprus  was  a  beautiful  island, 
populous,  and  famous  from  early  antiquity  as  the  seat 
of  the  worship  of  Aphrodite.  It  had  little  to  boast  of  in 
the  way  of  culture  or  art  or  learning,  but  it  wa?*  yearly 
visited  by  multitudes  of  pilgrims,  and  its  shrines  were 
known  throughout  the  whole  world.  In  the  interior  the 
missionaries  would  naturally  find  ample  opportunity  to 
preach  to  heathen  as  well  as  Jews;  Luke  says  that  they 
went  through  the  "whole  island"  on  their  way  to  the 
opposite  coast. 

At  Paphos  lived  the  Roman  proconsul,  Sergius 
Paulus.  He  was  a  man  of  education,  but,  like  most 
educated  Greeks  and  Romans  of  the  time,  he  believed 
in  sorcery  and  magic.  Few  men  in  PauFs  day  had  the 
courage  to  throw  off  the  old  superstitions,  handed  down 
for  thousands  of  years;  after  all,  most  persons  thought, 
there  "might  be  something  in  them."  In  Sergius  Paulus' 
retinue  was  a  Jewish  magician  and  false  prophet  called 
Bar- Jesus,  or  Elymas. 

Unmasking  a  magician. — Hearing  of  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas, the  proconsul  had  them  brought  before  him  in 
order  to  learn  more  about  their  teaching.    What  they 


ii6     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

said  we  do  not  know.  But  it  must  have  been  something 
which  irritated  or  alarmed  the  sorcerer,  for  he  at  once 
endeavored  ''to  turn  aside  the  proconsul  from  the  faith." 
Then  Paul,  gazing  sternly  at  the  impostor,  said,  in 
words  that  sounded  to  Elymas  like  the  curses  he  himself 
was  wont  to  pronounce:  "You  son  of  Satan,  full  of  craft 
and  crookedness !  You  enemy  of  everything  good !  How 
long  wiU  you  continue  to  pervert  the  ways  of  the  Lord? 
Behold,  even  now  his  hand  is  upon  you;  you  are  going 
blind,  and  shall  not  see  anything  for  a  long  time!" 

Elymas  was  overcome  at  his  own  game;  and  as  he 
felt  a  mist  rising  before  his  eyes,  he  went  out  to  look 
for  someone  to  lead  him  by  the  hand.  Then  the  pro- 
consul, seeing  the  magician's  discomfiture,  believed  the 
apostles'  message  and  became  a  Christian.  The  story  of 
this  incident,  like  that  of  Simon  Magus  (Acts  8),  helps 
us  to  realize  the  conditions  under  which  the  gospel  was 
first  preached  in  the  Gentile  world  outside  Judaea. 

IN  PAMPHYLIA  AND  GALATIA 

The  narrative  of  Acts  proceeds  very  abruptly,  "Now 
Paul  and  his  companions  set  sail  from  Paphos  and  came 
to  Perga  in  Pamphylia"  (Acts  13: 13).  Little  as  it  tells 
us,  that  much  is  significant.  It  is  no  longer  "Barnabas 
and  Saul";  it  is  "Paul  and  his  companions"  who  set  out 
for  the  mainland  provinces — subtly  indicating  Paul's 
position  as  leader  in  this  step. 

At  Perga. — It  was  a  longer  voyage  than  from  Antioch 
to  Salamis,  for  the  harbor  of  Attalia  lay  a  hundred  and 
seventy  miles  northwest  from  Paphos,  and  a  round- 
about coaster  would  make  it  nearly  two  hundred  miles. 
But  it  is  noticeable  how  Paul  avoids  the  kingdom  of 
Antiochus  in  his  travels — a  rough  mountainous  region 
west  and  north  of  Cilicia,  once  overrun  with  pirates 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  CYPRUS  AND  GALATIA     117 

and  brigands,  and  possessing  no  important  cities.  Pam- 
phylia,  on  the  other  hand,  was  mainly  a  fertile  and 
prosperous  coast  plain;  and  north  of  it,  in  the  high- 
lands, lay  the  great  province  of  Galatia  with  its  large 
cities  joined  and  bound  together  by  a  spreading  net- 
work of  highways.  We  can  easily  see  that  it  was  Paul, 
with  his  plan  for  advancing  the  gospel  ''far  among  the 
Gentiles,"  who  determined  this  movement  to  the  north 
and  westward. 

What  happened  at  Perga,  the  capital  city  of  the 
province,  we  are  not  told.  John  Mark  deserted  and  went 
home  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  other  two  left  soon  after, 
pushing  on  straight  north  to  Antioch  of  Pisidia  (old 
Pisidia  was  now  a  part  of  the  province  of  Galatia).  It 
has  been  suggested  that  Paul  became  ill  of  malarial  fever 
in  the  lowland  along  the  coast,  and  had  to  go  north  for 
his  health's  sake  into  the  higher  altitudes  of  the  western 
Taurus  ranges.  If  so,  it  must  have  been  a  great  dis- 
couragement to  Paul  for  his  strength  to  fail  as  soon  as 
he  had  entered  his  new  field.  But  he  was  not  the  only 
missionary  of  Christ  who  has  had  this  experience,  and 
in  the  end  it  proved  no  hindrance  to  his  work.  For  a 
few  months  later  he  preached  in  Perga,  on  his  returning 
journey  to  Antioch  in  Syria.^ 

At  Antioch  of  Pisidia. — Antioch  was  a  highland 
city,  nearly  four  thousand  feet  above  sea-level,  and  a 
Roman  colony.  This  gave  its  citizens  certain  special 
rights,  including  exemption  from  certain  kinds  of  taxes. 
Off  to  the  southeast  lay  a  fertile  plain,  across  which 
passed  the  old  and  much-traveled  road,  already  de- 
scribed, which  ran  across  Asia  Minor  from  Ephesus 
through    the    cities    of    Laodicea,    Apamea,    Antioch, 

1  There  were  two  cities  called  Antioch,  one  in  Pisidia,  the  other  in  Syria;  be 
sure  to  locate  them  on  the  map. 


ii8    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Iconium,  and  Tyana,  then  through  the  Cilician  Gates 
to  Tarsus  and  the  east.  It  was,  therefore,  an  important 
strategic  center  for  the  evangelization  of  all  southern 
Asia  Minor,  and  could  be  made  a  base  for  further  ad- 
vance into  the  provinces  of  Asia  and  Galatia,  for  it  lay 
almost  on  the  boundary  line  between  the  two. 

Paul's  first  step  was  to  preach  in  the  synagogue  on 
the  Sabbath  following  their  arrival.  After  the  scripture 
lessons  from  the  Law  and  Prophets,  as  was  the  custom 
when  notable  visitors  were  present,  the  ^'rulers  of  the 
synagogue"  invited  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  speak.  This 
was  Paul's  opportunity.  Rising  up  and  beckoning 
eagerly  with  his  hand,  he  began  by  recounting  the  story 
of  the  deliverance  from  Egypt  and  the  promise  of  God 
to  send  the  Messiah  to  his  people.  "This  Messiah,"  he 
said,  "has  already  come,  and  his  name  is  Jesus.  He  is 
the  one  announced  by  John  the  Baptist  as  close  at  hand. 
Nevertheless,  the  people  in  Jerusalem  and  their  rulers 
rejected  and  put  him  to  death — not  knowing  the 
prophets,  they  fulfilled  them  by  condemning  him." 

"But  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  he  was 
seen  for  many  days  by  them  that  came  up  with  him 
from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who  are  now  his  wit- 
nesses unto  the  people.  And  we  bring  you  good 
tidings  of  the  promise  made  unto  the  fathers,  how 
that  God  hath  fulfilled  the  same  unto  our  children, 
in  that  he  raised  up  Jesus;  as  also  it  is  written  in 
the  second  psalm.  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I 
begotten  thee.  .  .  . 

"Be  it  known  unto  you  therefore,  brethren,  that 
through  this  man  is  proclaimed  unto  you  remission 
of  sins ;  and  by  him  every  one  that  beHeves  is  justified 
from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be  justified 
by  the  Law  of  Moses.  Beware  therefore,  lest  that 
come  upon  you  which  is  spoken  in  the  prophets, 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  CYPRUS  AND  GALATIA     119 

^Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish; 
For  I  work  a  work  in  your  days, 
A  work  which  ye  shall  in  no  wise  believe  if  one 
declare  it  unto  you.'  " 

—Acts  13^30-33)  38-41. 

Such  was  Paul's  first  recorded  sermon.  Its  eiffect  was 
immediate  and  powerful.  The  apostles  were  invited  to 
speak  again  on  the  following  Sabbath.  Many  of  the 
Jews  and  devout  Gentiles  followed  them,  anxious  to 
hear  more  of  the  message. 

The  next  Sabbath,  ''almost  the  whole  city"  gathered 
at  the  synagogue.  This  was  more  than  the  more  orthodox 
and  conservative  of  the  Jewish  congregation  could  bear 
— religion  was  becoming  altogether  too  popular,  and 
they  at  once  suspected  Paul  and  Barnabas  of  sinister 
designs.  Doing  their  best  to  contradict  what  the  apostles 
said,  they  accused  them  of  teaching  falsely,  until  Paul 
spoke  out  and  said  that  they  were  proving  themselves 
unworthy  of  eternal  life  and  from  henceforth  he  and 
Barnabas  would  preach  to  Gentiles.  And  as  long  as 
they  remained,  their  preaching  was  addressed  to  non- 
Jews.  Their  success  in  this  field  is  indicated  by  Luke 
when  he  says,  "The  word  of  the  Lord  was  spread  about 
throughout  the  whole  region." 

But  not  content  to  be  let  alone,  the  members  of  the 
synagogue  determined  to  drive  the  new  teachers  from 
Antioch.  Securing  the  interest  of  certain  women  of  high 
rank  who  had  leanings  toward  the  Jewish  faith,  they 
worked  on  the  leading  men  of  the  city,  stirred  up  a 
persecution,  and  drove  Paul  and  Barnabas  from  their 
territory. 

"But  they  shook  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against 
them,  and  came  unto  Iconium.    And  the  disciples 


120     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

were  filled  with  joy  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost." — 
Acts  13:51-52. 

It  was  another  failure;  but  in  spite  of  the  failure,  a 
success! 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1 .  Look  up  on  the  map  the  cities  mentioned  in  this  chap- 

ter, and  trace  the  route  followed  by  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas. (If  possible,  see  Murray's  "Handy  Classical 
Map  of  Asia  Minor.")  Trace  the  road  from  Ephesus 
through  Antioch  to  Syria  and  the  east.  Show  both 
the  cities  and  the  highway  on  a  sketch-map  in  your 
notebook. 

2.  Look  up  "Cyprus"  in  the  encyclopedia  or  Bible  dic- 

tionary.   Name  some  of  its  products  and  industries. 

3.  What  Hght  does  the  story  of  Elymas  throw  on  the 

early  preaching  of  the  gospel  ? 

4.  Look  up  "Asia  Minor"  in  the  encyclopedia  or  Bible 

dictionary,  and  read  the  sections  on  PamphyHa, 
Pisidia,  and  Galatia.  What  can  you  learn  of  their 
population,  products,  and  industries? 

5.  Why  was  Antioch  of  Pisidia  a  strategic  center  for  mis- 

sionary work? 

6.  Why  did  Paul  begin  by  preaching  in  the  synagogue, 

instead  of  turning  at  once  to  the  Gentiles? 

7.  Read  Paul's  sermon  in  Antioch  (Acts  13:  16-41),  and 

compare  it  with  other  sermons  reported  in  Acts, 
especially  those  of  Peter  and  Stephen.  What  were 
Saint  Paul's  chief  points?  What  was  the  significance 
of  Jesus'  restirrection,  according  to  Paul? 

8.  Paul's  ambitious  plans  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel 

received  a  discouraging  reception — but  he  kept  right 
on,  undismayed.  Do  we  need  a  similar  spirit  in  our 
work  for  Christ  and  righteousness?  In  the  end, 
Paul's  life-mission  was  a  magnificent  success.  Final 
success  or  failure  cannot  always  be  judged  by  the 
present  situation.    Give  some  examples  to  show  this. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MISTAKEN  FOR  GODS 

It  was  ninety  miles  from  Antioch  to  Iconium.  Though 
Paul  and  Barnabas  naturally  followed  the  main  high- 
way, this  lay  through  mountainous  country,  winding 
and  hilly  and  hard  to  travel.  For  three  or  four  days 
they  journeyed  along  the  Via  Sebaste  on  foot,  between 
the  northern  mountain  range  (now  called  the  Sultan 
Dagh)  at  their  left  and  the  beautiful  Lake  Caralis  at 
their  right,  then  turning  eastward  up  through  the  pass 
which  led  to  the  broad  plain  of  Lycaonia,  at  whose 
mouth  lay  the  end  of  their  journey.  But  imagine  how 
long  the  journey  seemed,  after  their  experience  at 
Antioch  1  Only  a  man  of  dauntless  faith  and  courage, 
Uke  Saint  Paul,  would  have  pressed  on  undismayed  to 
further  toils  and  dangers. 

THE  CITIES  OF  LYCAONIA 

Iconium  was  an  important  town  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  Galatia  made  up  of  the  ancient  territory  of  the 
Lycaonians.  Streams  descended  from  the  hills  in  the 
west  and  watered  the  plain,  making  the  neighborhood 
of  the  city  fruitful  and  even  luxuriant.  But  so  high  and 
dry  was  the  district  that  these  streams  went  no  farther, 
spending  themselves,  like  the  "rivers  of  the  desert"  near 
Damascus,  in  watering  the  immediate  neighborhood. 

Opposition  from  the  Jews. — Here  was  a  Jewish  syn- 
agogue, in  which,  following  his  usual  custom,  Paul  and 
Barnabas  began  their  preaching.  So  effective  was  their 
ministry  that  "a,  great  multitude  both  of  Jews  and 

121 


122     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Greeks  believed"  (Acts  14:  i).  Luke  adds  that  the 
divine  approval  was  shown  through  ''signs  and  wonders'' 
which  the  apostles  were  permitted  to  do,  which  con- 
vinced those  who  saw  them  of  the  truth  of  the  apostles* 
teaching.  But  it  was  not  without  opposition  that  their 
work  prospered,  for  the  ''disobedient  Jews"  (that  is, 
those  who  refused  to  accept  or  "obey"  the  new  teaching) 
stirred  up  their  Gentile  neighbors  to  the  point  of  ex- 
asperation, until  the  city  was  divided  in  its  opinion, 
some  siding  with  the  Jews,  others  with  the  apostles.  It 
was  just  as  it  had  been  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia:  the  ortho- 
dox Jews  were  at  first  interested,  and  some  believed; 
but  soon  opposition  arose,  and  by  intrigue  or  clever 
propaganda  the  Gentiles  were  roused  to  frenzy  and  mob 
violence.  A  plot  was  devised  to  abuse  the  apostles  and 
stone  them  out  of  the  city.  But  Paul  and  Barnabas 
learned  of  the  scheme  and  fled,  going  southward  toward 
Lystra  and  Derbe.  There,  and  in  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, they  continued  to  preach  the  gospel. 

At  Lystra. — At  Lystra  occurred  one  of  those  "signs 
and  wonders"  which  often  accompanied  their  preaching. 
A  certain  cripple^  who  had  never  walked  but  had  been 
lame  from  birth,  sat  at  the  side  of  the  street  and  heard 
Paul  preaching.  Seeing  that  the  man  was  paying  close 
attention  and  seemed  to  have  the  necessary  faith,  Paul 
said  to  him  with  a  loud  voice  so  that  all  could  hear, 
"Stand  upon  your  feet!"  And  the  man  at  once  got  up 
and  leaped  and  walked  about!  The  story  reminds  us  of 
the  healing  of  the  beggar  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  by  Peter 
and  John  (Acts  3),  and  helps  us  to  visuaKze  the  effect 
of  the  apostles'  preaching  accompanied  by  such  "mighty 
works"  of  restoration. 

"Zeus"  and  "Hermes." — In  Palestine,  such  an  event 
was  understood  to  prove  the  presence  of  God's  Holy 


MISTAKEN  FOR  GODS  123 

Spirit,  and  his  favor  to  his  people:  "A  great  prophet  has 
arisen  among  us,  and  (}od  has  visited  his  people."  But 
among  the  simple,  iUiterate,  and  pagan  Lycaonians,who 
knew  nothing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  miracle  meant 
the  outward  proof  that  some  god  was  present,  appearing 
incognito  and  in  disguise.  Men  had  believed  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  that  this  was 
what  the  gods  did  from  time  to  time — examples  are 
common  in  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  of  Homer. 
Luke  tells  the  story  as  follows: 

"And  when  the  multitudes  saw  what  Paul  had 
done,  they  lifted  up  their  voice,  saying  in  the  speech 
of  Lycaonia,  'The  gods  have  come  down  in  the  like- 
ness of  men.*  And  they  called  Barnabas,  'Zeus,' 
and  Paul,  'Hermes,'  because  he  was  the  chief  speaker. 

"And  the  priest  of  Zeus,  whose  temple  was  before 
the  city,  brought  oxen  and  garlands  unto  the  gates 
and  would  have  offered  sacrifice  with  the  multi- 
tudes. But  when  the  apostles  heard  of  it,  they  tore 
their  clothes  (in  solemn  adjuration)  and  sprang  out 
among  the  crowd,  crying  out,  'Sirs,  why  do  you  do 
this?  We  also  are  men  of  like  nature  with  you,  and 
we  bring  you  good  tidings — that  you  should  turn 
from  this  empty  woTship  unto  the  living  God,  who 
made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  sea,  and 
all  that  in  them  is.  In  the  generations  gone  by  he 
allowed  all  the  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways; 
and  yet  he  left  not  himself  without  witness,  in  that 
he  did  good  and  gave  you  rain  from  heaven  and 
fruitful  seasons,  filling  your  hearts  with  food  and 
gladness.'  However,  even  with  these  words  they 
were  scarcely  able  to  restrain  the  multitudes  from 
offering  sacrifice  to  them." — Acts  14: 11-18. 

Paul  stoned. — It  seems  almost  impossible  to  believe 
that  the  one  whom  they  were  scarcely  restrained  from 


124    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

worshiping  became  the  next  day  the  object  of  their 
angry  violence!  Yet  it  is  characteristic  of  all  backward 
and  superstitious  peoples,  and  it  is  just  what  took  place 
at  Lystra.  Not  content  with  having  driven  the  apostles 
from  Antioch  and  Iconium,  the  unbelieving  Jews  sent 
emissaries  to  warn  the  other  synagogues  against  the 
new  teachers.  These  followed  the  same  old  tactics,  and 
roused  the  multitudes  by  some  adverse  propaganda — 
perhaps  accusing  the  apostles  of  witchcraft  and  evil 
designs  upon  the  city.  Stirred  to  violence,  like  a  frenzied, 
half-insane  mob  at  a  lynching,  they  hurled  rocks,  bricks, 
and  other  missiles  at  Paul  until  he  fell  unconscious 
under  the  blows,  then  dragged  him  out  of  the  city  and 
left  him,  supposing  that  he  was  dead. 

But  as  the  disciples  gathered  about  him  he  rose  up 
and  went  with  them  into  the  city.  The  next  day  he  and 
Barnabas  departed  for  Derbe,  fully  thirty  miles  away 
to  the  south  and  east,  on  the  very  border  of  the  province. 
Here  they  preached,  apparently  without  opposition,  and 
**made  many  disciples." 

THE  END  OF  THE  FIRST  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY 

What  this  journey  cost  Saint  Paul  we  can  only  sur- 
mise. Thirty  miles  over  a  rough  mountain  road  to 
Derbe  on  the  very  day  after  he  was  stoned  and  dragged 
out  of  Lystra  for  dead!  Still  weak,  perhaps,  from  the 
fever  which  developed  at  Perga,  worn  with  the  ceaseless 
labor  of  travel  afoot  and  preaching  day  after  day,  pur- 
sued by  fanatics  who  sought  his  life  and  attempted  to 
undo  his  teaching — these  were  some  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
fulfilled  his  mission  and  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
Master. 


MISTAKEN  FOR  GODS  125 

"In  perils  oft." — Seven  years  later,  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  the  Corinthians,  he  wrote  an  account  of  his 
trials  and  difficulties  as  a  missionary: 

"Of  the  Jews  five  times  received  I  forty  stripes 
save  one.  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods,  once  was 
I  stoned,  thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a 
day  have  I  been  in  the  deep;  in  joumeyings  often, 
in  perils  of  rivers,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  from 
my  own  race,  in  perils  from  Gentiles,  in  perils  in 
the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in 
the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren ;  in  labor  and 
toil,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in 
fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness.  And  in  addi- 
tion to  many  things  which  I  omit,  there  is  that  which 
presses  upon  me  daily — anxiety  for  all  the  churches." 
— 2  Corinthians  11 :  24-28. 

Must  he  not  have  been  thinking  of  this  first  journey 
into  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor  when  he  wrote  these 
words?  Some  of  those  terrible  experiences  are  doubtless 
the  ones  which  he  suffered  on  this  long  overland  circuit 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  from  Perga  up  through 
the  mountains  north  and  east  to  Derbe,  in  weakness, 
pain,  and  constant  persecution. 

Results  of  the  journey. — And  yet  this  journey  was 
to  be  far-reaching  in  its  results.  In  Lystra  lived  a  young 
man  called  Timothy,  who  was  destined  to  become  one  of 
the  greatest  workers  of  the  early  church,  Paul's  own 
companion  and  ''son  in  the  faith,"  and  his  successor 
after  his  death.  In  Derbe,  little  as  we  hear  of  the  mission 
in  that  place,  lived  Gains,  who  later  became  one  of 
Paul's  most  constant  and  devoted  disciples.  And 
Iconium,  from  which  the  apostles  were  compelled  to  flee 
for  their  lives,  became  in  time  one  of  the  most  influential 
centers  of  Christian  work  in  the  whole  of  central  Asia 


126    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Minor.  Roads  ran  out  from  it  in  all  directions.  Thanks 
to  the  abundant  fertility  of  its  neighborhood,  and  its 
own  location  as  a  center  of  industry,  travel  and  com- 
merce, the  city  grew  in  size  and  importance.  Under  the 
Emperor  Hadrian  it  was  granted  the  right  of  independent 
civil  jurisdiction.  And  for  centuries  it  was  one  of  the 
great  Christian  cities  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  empire. 
But  without  the  few  weeks'  visit  of  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
in  the  year  47  A.  D.,  there  might  never  have  been  a 
Christian  church  in  this  important,  strategic  center! 

The  apostles  return  to  Syria. — From  Derbe  it  was 
a  much  shorter  route  home  to  follow  the  highway  east 
to  Tyana,  go  south  through  the  Cilician  Gates  and  re- 
visit Tarsus,  then  follow  the  road  around  the  Gulf  of 
Issus  and  down  to  Antioch  in  Syria.  Instead,  Paul  and 
Barnabas  determined  to  retrace  their  steps,  braving  all 
the  dangers  such  a  plan  involved,  and  visit  once  more 
the  disciples  whom  they  had  made  thus  far.  They  re- 
fused to  desert  the  new  and  scattered  converts  in  the 
cities  of  Galatia.   And  so,  as  Luke  says, 

"They  returned  to  Lystra  and  Iconium  and  An- 
tioch (in  Pisidia),  confirming  the  souls  of  the  dis- 
ciples, exhorting  them  to  continue  in  the  faith,  and 
telling  them  that  through  many  tribulations  we 
must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  when 
they  had  appointed  for  them  elders  in  every  church, 
and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they  commended  them 
to  the  Lord  in  whom  they  had  believed. 

"And  they  passed  through  Pisidia  and  came  to 
Pamphylia.  And  when  they  had  spoken  the  word  in 
Perga,  they  went  down  to  Attalia;  and  thence  they 
sailed  to  Antioch,  from  whence  they  had  been  com- 
mitted to  the  grace  of  God  for  the  work  which  they 
had  accomplished.  And  when  they  arrived,  they 
gathered  the  church  together  and  rehearsed  all  that 


MISTAKEN  FOR  GODS  127 

God  had  done  with  them,  and  how  he  had  opened  a 
door  of  faith  unto  the  Gentiles.  Then  they  tarried 
no  little  time  with  the  disciples." — ^Acts  14:  21-28. 

It  was  a  year  since  they  had  set  out  for  Cyprus.  They 
had  covered  nearly  fifteen  hundred  miles  by  ship  or  afoot, 
in  all  weathers,  by  day  and  night,  in  much  hardship 
and  tribulation.  But  "a  door  had  been  opened  to  the 
Gentiles" — a  door  of  faith  through  which  multitudes 
were  to  come  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  find  life 
in  his  name.  There  is  no  false  note  in  the  words  of  our 
hymn: 

"The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war.  .  .  . 
Who  follows  in  his  train?" 

From  the  very  beginning  it  has  been  true  of  his  followers 
that 

"They  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven 
Through  peril,  toil,  and  pain." 

We  wonder,  sometimes,  if  we  ourselves  are  worthy  to 
bear  the  name  of  Christian,  for  which  these  heroic 
pioneers  "suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  if  only  they 
might  gain  Christ!" 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Sketch  a  map  of  Asia  Minor  and  S5nia,  and  show  its 

political  divisions  about  the  time  of  Paul.  Locate 
the  chief  cities  and  show  the  route  followed  by  Paul 
and  Barnabas  on  the  first  missionary  journey. 

2.  What  grounds  can  you  imagine  for  the  bitter  opposi- 

tion of  the  "unbelieving"  Jews  to  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel? 

3.  What  significance  did  the  healing  of  the  lame  man  at 

Lystra  have  for  the  people?  Explain  this,  and  com- 
pare it  with  the  effect  of  our  Lord's  miracles  upon 


128    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  people  of  Galilee.  Do  you  remember  what 
Jesus  said  about  the  significance  of  his  own  miracles 
of  healing?  See  Matthew  ii :  2-6;  12 :  28. 

4.  Read   2   Corinthians   11:23-33.     Do  you  know  the 

lives  of  any  other  missionaries  (for  example,  Paton 
or  Livingstone)  to  compare  with  this?  Are  there 
any  experiences  described  which  remind  you  of  the 
opposition  to  Jesus  in  his  ministry? 

5.  Try  to  imagine  the  scene  as  the  apostles  returned  to 

Antioch  and  reported  to  the  church  what  had  hap- 
pened on  their  journey.  Tradition  says  that  Luke's 
home  was  at  Antioch.  Perhaps  he  now  heard  from 
Paul's  own  lips  the  accoimt  which  he  gives  in  Acts 
13-14.  Give  in  your  own  words  a  brief  resum6  of 
the  first  missionary  journey. 

6.  We  honor  the  patriots  who  lay  down  their  lives  to  set 

their  country  free,  or  to  liberate  the  oppressed.  How 
ought  we  to  feel  toward  those  who,  at  fearful  cost  to 
themselves,  have  planted  Christianity  among  the 
nations  of  the  world? 

7.  Are  we  worthy  of  the  sacrifices  made  to  give  us  the 

true  religion  if  we  sit  idly  by  and  take  no  share  in 
its  further  extension  to  all  mankind?  How  may  we 
share  in  this  task  to-day? 

8.  Would  you  be  willing  to  endure  what  Saint   Paul 

endured  in  order  to  spread  the  gospel?  What  were 
the  motives  which  explain  his  courage  and  persever- 
ance? 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FOES  WITHIN  THE  FOLD 

Not  everyone  in  the  church  rejoiced  at  the  "open 
door  of  faith"  proclaimed  to  the  Gentiles  by  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  There  were  some,  like  those  who  protested 
when  Peter  accepted  the  hospitality  of  the  centurion 
Cornelius,  who  felt  that  there  was  a  grave  danger  in 
this  open  welcoming  of  Gentiles  into  the  church.  They 
thought  that  heathen  should  become  Jews  first,  and  then 
advance  to  the  perfect  form  of  Judaism  taught  in  the 
gospel. 

THE  "JUDAIZERS" 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  understand  such  narrowness  and 
bigotry,  as  it  seems  to  us.  But  we  must  remember  that 
for  hundreds  of  years  the  preservation  of  the  Jewish 
faith  required  the  most  strict  exclusion  of  foreigners 
with  their  idolatry  and  heathen  customs,  often  grossly 
immoral.  Moreover,  for  twenty  generations  the  Jews 
had  been  persecuted  by  foreign  nations,  either  on  account 
of  their  religion  (as  in  the  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes), 
or  on  account  of  their  wealth  and  the  strategic  impor- 
tance of  Palestine  as  a  frontier  state. 

Jews  and  Gentiles. — In  the  first  century  of  our  era, 
there  were  great  numbers  of  Jews  who  bitterly  resented 
the  Roman  control  of  Palestine,  and  hated  every  mark 
of  the  * 'bondage"  which  it  was  felt  their  nation  suffered. 
Although  the  Romans  gave  Palestine  as  good  a  govern- 
ment as  any  in  the  world  at  that  time,  and  made  an 
honest  effort  (at  least  under  the  early  procurators)  to 
deal  justly  with  their  subjects;  although  Jewish  life  and 

129 


130     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

property  were  never  more  secure,  this  antagonism  on 
the  part  of  vast  masses  of  the  Jews  only  deepened  from 
year  to  year.  At  last  war  broke  out,  and  the  Jewish 
nation  endeavored  to  regain  its  freedom.  After  four 
years  of  unsuccessful  revolution,  66-70  A.  D.,  ending  in 
a  terrible  siege  of  the  capital  city,  Jerusalem  was  taken, 
the  Temple  destroyed,  and  its  rebuilding  forever  for- 
bidden. 

Christianity  versus  Judaism. — Throughout  his  public 
ministry,  Jesus  set  himself  firmly  against  this  tendency 
to  exclusiveness  and  bigotry.  "Many  shall  come  from 
the  east  and  the  west  and  sit  down  with  Abraham 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The 
Temple  was  a  "house  of  prayer  for  all  peoples."  The 
gospel  was  to  be  preached  "to  all  the  nations."  Never- 
theless, it  took  his  followers  a  long  time  to  understand 
the  plain  meaning  of  his  message,  and  to  realize  that 
although  it  was  addressed  first  of  all  to  the  Jews  it  was 
also  meant  for  the  Gentiles — was  intended,  in  fact,  for 
all  mankind.  So  there  were  some,  even  within  the 
Christian  Church,  who  thought  that  in  order  to  become 
Christians,  Gentiles  must  first  become  Jews  in  religion; 
that  is,  they  must  become  "members  of  the  Covenant," 
accept  its  rites  and  observe  the  ceremonies  prescribed 
by  the  Law,  including  the  offering  of  sacrifices  at  the 
Temple  in  Jerusalem,  the  ceremonial  washings  of  hands 
and  household  utensils,  the  observance  of  fasts  and  feasts, 
new  moons  and  Sabbaths,  and  all  the  other  requirements 
of  the  ancient  code. 

These  men  were  no  doubt  sincerely  alarmed  over  the 
admission  of  Gentiles  into  the  church  without  the  fulfill- 
ing of  the  sacred  requirements.  They  were  sure  a 
curse  would  fall  upon  everyone  who  broke  the  Law,  and 
therefore  upon  all  who,  while  supposed — as  members  of 


FOES  WITHIN  THE  FOLD  131 

the  true  Israel,  the  church — to  be  observing  it,  were 
ignoring  its  requirements.  The  preaching  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  and  others  seemed  to  them  the  height  of 
presumptuous  folly  and  wickedness.  All  that  Judaism 
had  ever  stood  for  in  the  world  was  being  jeopardized 
by  these  irresponsible  preachers  among  the  Gentiles. 
They  were  making  rehgion  far  too  free  and  easy  a  matter! 
They  were  triflmg  with  the  souls  of  men,  with  the 
coming  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  with  the  justice  and 
mercy  of  God! 

THE  COUNCIL  AT  JERUSALEM 

So  it  came  to  pass,  not  long  after  Paul  and  Barnabas 
had  returned  from  their  missionary  tour  of  Cyprus  and 
Galatia,  that  certain  of  these  extremely  conservative 
Christian  Jews  came  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch 
and  announced,  "Unless  you  are  circumcised,  according 
to  the  Mosaic  custom,  you  cannot  be  saved."  No  wonder 
this  statement  caused  consternation !  If  these  men,  who 
claimed  authority  from  the  Jerusalem  church,  were 
right,  then  Paul's  and  Barnabas'  work  must  all  be  done 
over;  their  converts  must  be  converted  to  Judaism  as 
well  as  to  Christianity,  and  take  upon  them  the  "yoke  of 
the  Law"  in  its  fullest  details. 

The  delegation  from  Antioch. — The  result  was  "no 
small  dissension  and  questioning"  in  the  church  at 
Antioch.  The  further  outcome  was  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  who  had  led  in  this  mission  to  the  heathen, 
and  along  with  them  certain  others  of  "the  brethren," 
were  delegated  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  consult  the 
apostles  and  elders  about  the  question.  That  the  two 
missionaries  had  no  doubt  of  the  rightness  of  their  course 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  on  their  way  to  Jerusalem 
they  told  the  Christians  in  Phoenicia  and  Samaria  about 


132     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles.  "And  they  caused  great 
joy  to  all  the  brethren." 

The  conference. — ^Arrived  in  Jerusalem,  they  were 
received  by  "the  church  and  the  apostles  and  elders," 
and  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  through  them,  and 
how  he  had  opened  the  way  before  them  for  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  to  non-Jews.  No  doubt  they  told  how 
the  members  of  their  own  race  in  Antioch  and  Iconium 
refused  to  hear  the  message,  and  how,  on  turning  to  the 
Gentiles,  they  heard  the  good  news  with  joy;  how  the 
Spirit  had  been  present  with  them  in  manifest  proofs  of 
his  power,  to  heal  and  to  inspire — even  as  in  the  earliest 
days  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem  and  Judaea. 

"But  there  rose  up/'  Luke  says,  "certain  of  the  sect 
of  the  Pharisees  who  believed  (that  is,  who  had  become 
Christians),  saying,  'It  is  necessary  to  circumcise  them, 
and  charge  them  to  keep  the  Law  of  Moses'  "  (Acts  15: 
5).  The  issue  could  not  have  been  more  squarely  pre- 
sented. Paul  saw  that  his  whole  career,  his  calling  as  a 
missionary  and  apostle,  his  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Saviour 
of  all  mankind  and  his  whole  understanding  of  the 
Christian  rehgion  hung  in  the  balance.  It  alarmed  him 
to  think  that  possibly  he  "was  running,  or  had  run,  in 
vain"  (Galatians  2:2). 

Peter's  address. — ^After  much  discussion  one  way 
and  another,  Peter  arose  and  made  a  brief  but  telling 
speech.  His  position  from  the  very  beginning  as  spokes- 
man for  the  apostolic  band,  his  record  as  a  missionary 
in  Palestine,  his  dignified  bearing,  all  commanded 
respect  for  what  he  said.   He  began: 

"Brethren,  you  know  how  that  from  the  first  days 
God  chose  among  you  that  by  my  mouth  the  Gen- 
tiles should  hear  tiie  word  of  the  gospel,  and  be- 
lieve.   And  God,  who  knows  the  heart,  bore  witness 


FOES  WITHIN  THE  FOLD  133 

to  them,  giving  them  the  Holy  Spirit  even  as  he 
did  to  us;  and  he  made  no  distinction  between  us 
and  them,  cleansing  their  hearts  (not  by  sacrifices  or 
ceremonial  washings  but)  by  faith.  Now,  therefore, 
why  do  you  put  God  to  the  test,  la3dng  a  yoke  upon 
the  neck  of  the  disciples  which  neither  our  fathers 
nor  we  have  been  able  to  bear?  The  simple  truth 
is  that  we  ourselves  trust  that  we  shall  be  saved 
through  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  just  the 
same  manner  as  they." — Acts  15:  7-1 1. 

The  advice  of  James. — ^The  next  speaker  was 
James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord.^  He  was  now  a  Christian 
and,  perhaps  on  account  of  his  relationship  to  Jesus,  was 
admitted  into  the  decimated  ranks  of  the  Twelve.  Be- 
ginning with  a  long  quotation  from  the  prophet  Amos 
(which  was  not  quoted  word  for  word,  but  gave  the 
general  sense  of  the  passage,  namely,  that  God  should 
bless  and  save  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews),  he  continued: 

"My  judgment  is  that  we  do  not  trouble  those 
who  from  among  the  Gentiles  turn  to  God ;  but  that 
we  enjoin  them  to  abstain  from  the  pollutions  of 
idols,  and  from  fornication,  and  from  what  has  been 
strangled  (that  is,  meat  not  prepared  in  the  Jewish 
maimer),  and  from  blood  (which  the  Law  forbade). 
For  Moses  from  generations  of  old  has  in  every  city 
them  that  preach  him,  being  read  in  the  synagogues 
every  Sabbath." — ^Acts  15: 19-21. 

To  this  proposal  the  assembly  agreed. 

The  result  of  the  conference. — The  result  of  the 
conference  was  a  circular  letter  addressed  by  the  council 
to  the  church  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  to  be  delivered  by  two 

1  He  must  not  be  confused  with  James  the  apostle,  one  of  the  Twelve,  who  was 
a  martyr  in  the  days  of  Herod  Agrippa  (Acts  12:  2). 


134    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

men  "chief  among  the  brethren" — Judas,  called  Barsab- 
bas,  and  Silas.   The  letter  read  as  follows: 

"The  apostles  and  elder  brethren  unto  the  breth- 
ren which  are  of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch  and  Syria 
and  CiUcia,  Greeting. 

"Forasmuch  as  we  have  heard  that  certain  which 
went  out  from  us  have  troubled  you  with  words, 
subverting  your  souls;  to  whom  we  gave  no  com- 
mandment; it  seemed  good  to  us,  having  come  to 
one  accord,  to  choose  out  men  and  send  them  unto 
you  with  our  beloved  Barnabas  and  Paul,  men  that 
have  hazarded  their  lives  for  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  We  have  sent  therefore  Judas  and 
Silas,  who  themselves  also  shall  tell  you  the  same 
things  by  word  of  mouth.  For  it  seemed  good  to  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  to  us,  to  lay  upon  you  no  greater 
burden  than  these  necessary  things:  that  you  ab- 
stain from  what  has  been  sacrificed  to  idols,  and 
from  blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from 
fornication — ^from  which  if  you  keep  yourselves  it 
shall  be  well  with  you.  Fare  ye  well!" — ^Acts  15: 
23-29. 

Returning  to  Antioch,  the  delegates  called  together 
the  church  and  read  the  epistle.  At  this,  the  "brethren" 
rejoiced,  for  it  meant  the  full  recognition  of  the  rights 
of  the  Gentile  Christians  within  the  church,  without 
accepting  the  burdensome  yoke  of  the  Law.  Judas  and 
Silas,  being  "prophets,"  exhorted  the  brethren  with 
many  words  and  strengthened  their  faith.  They  stayed 
in  Antioch  for  some  time  before  returning  to  Jerusalem 
— though  some  of  the  ancient  manuscripts  read  (Acts 
15:  34)  that  "it  seemed  good  to  Silas  to  remain  there." 

Thus  was  settled  the  most  crucial  and  difficult  prob- 
lem which  the  church  at  that  time  had  to  face.    If  the 


FOES  WITHIN  THE  FOLD  135 

*'judaizers"  had  triumphed,  Christianity  might  have 
become  but  a  vigorous  and  somewhat  rebeUious  sect 
within  Judaism.  It  might  not  have  survived  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  the  overwhelming  set-back  which 
Jewish  missionary  effort  throughout  the  world  suffered 
immediately  afterward.  Instead,  it  was  set  free  to  run 
its  course  as  the  vital  new  world-religion,  destined  to 
spread  forth  to  the  ends  of  civilization — and  beyond — 
and  bring  the  blessings  of  spiritual  enlighteimient  and 
salvation  to  whole  ages  and  generations  then  unborn. 
Even  to-day,  we  cannot  read  the  record  of  that  re- 
joicing of  the  "brethren"  in  Antioch  without  sharing  in 
it.  The  question  might  arise  again,  and  did.  But  the 
''apostles  and  elders"  had  gone  on  record.  The  church 
had  spoken  its  mind.  And  in  this  particular,  at  least, 
its  mind  was  ''the  mind  of  Christ,"  whose  gospel  ignored 
the  lines  of  race  and  nationality  in  religion,  and  who 
was  the  Saviour  not  of  Jews  only  but  of  all  mankind. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Recall   Peter's  visit   to   the   house   of   Cornelius   in 

Caesarea.  How  did  he  justify  himself  when  he  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem,  and  what  was  the  feeling  of 
the  church  there?  (Acts  11,  especially  verses  2-3, 
9,  12,  IS,  17-18.) 

2.  Explain  the  historical  reasons  for  Jewish  exclusiveness 

and  intolerance  of  Gentiles. 

3.  Look  up  some  of  Jesus'  sajdngs  which  show  his  broad 

and  supemational  view  of  religion.  See  Luke  4:  24- 
27.  5*36-38,  7-9»  13:24-30,  16:16,  31,  20:9-16; 
Mark  11:  17,  13:  10,  14:  9;  Matthew  28:  18-20. 

4.  In  the  second  chapter  of  Galatians  Paul  gives  some 

details  of  the  Judaistic  controversy  not  mentioned 
in  Acts.  Chapter  2 :  i-io  may  refer  to  Paul's  visit 
to  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the  famine,  46  A.  D., 


136    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

but  more  probably  to  the  present  visit  (48,  49  A.  D.). 
Peter's  vacillation  (2:  11-16)  took  place  either 
shortly  before  the  council  or  shortly  after;  we  can- 
not decide  the  question.  Paiil's  account,  written 
three  or  four  years  after  this  date  (in  52),  is  to  be 
preferred  to  that  of  Luke,  written  thirty-five  or 
forty  years  after.  It  may  be  that  Luke  has  con- 
fused two  different  conferences,  though  he  did  the 
best  he  could  with  the  traditions  at  his  disposal. 
Evidently,  he  did  not  have  a  copy  of  Galatians. 

5.  What  were  the  tenets  of  the  Pharisees?    Why  would 

they  be  inclined,  even  as  Christians,  to  insist  upon 
Gentiles  becoming  Jews  if  they  wished  to  enter  the 
chturch? 

6.  What  is  an  "epistle"?    How  is  it  distinguished  from  a 

"letter"?  Why  was  the  message  of  the  cotincil 
called  by  the  former  name? 

7.  What  gave  the  chiu-ch  in  Jerusalem  its  prestige  and 

authority  over  the  churches  in  other  cities? 

8.  Explain  the  importance  of  the  decision  reached  by  the 

conference,  for  the  work  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and 
for  the  futtire  of  Christianity.  Was  it  a  compromise 
or  a  victory? 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  GOSPEL  IN  MACEDONIA 

Not  long  after  their  return  to  Antioch  Paul  proposed 
that  he  and  Barnabas  should  return  to  Cyprus  and 
Galatia,  and  visit  the  disciples  they  had  made  there  a 
year  or  two  before.  Whether  or  not  their  first  journey 
had  been  at  Paul's  suggestion  we  do  not  know.  Cer- 
tainly this  one  was,  for  Paul  kept  thinking  of  the  few 
scattered  believers  in  the  far-off  cities  to  the  west, 
wondering  how  they  fared,  whether  they  were  persecuted 
or  not,  or  whether  they  had  kept  the  faith.  The  plan 
pleased  Barnabas,  and  so  they  arranged  to  go. 

ONCE  MORE  IN  ASIA  MINOR 

The  plan,  presumably,  was  to  cover  the  same  route 
as  before,  going  first  to  Cyprus,  which  was  Barnabas' 
old  home,  and  then  to  Pamphylia,  Galatia,  and  home 
again. 

A  new  companion. — Barnabas,  the  kind  and  gener- 
ous, was  anxious  to  take  with  them  his  cousin  Mark, 
who  had  now  returned  from  Jerusalem.  But  Paul,  re- 
membering the  young  man's  faint-heartedness  at  Perga, 
when  they  were  just  beginning  the  most  arduous  part 
of  their  former  journey,  refused  to  take  him  along.  The 
refusal  was  perfectly  natural.  Such  hardships  as  Paul 
and  Barnabas  had  endured  in  Pisidian  Antioch,  in 
Iconium  and  Lystra,  and  the  heroic  courage  of  their 
followers  in  those  cities,  were  foreign  to  John  Mark's 
experience.  Now  that  the  battle  was  nearly  won,  he  was 

137 


138    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

not  going  to  have  a  coward  and  weakling  share  the 
triumph!  Or  if  dangers  still  awaited  them,  Mark  was 
not  the  one  to  face  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  Barnabas  saw  in  his  young  relative 
the  promise  of  something  better  than  he  had  yet  dis- 
played— a  real  devotion  to  Christ  and  a  willingness  to 
"minister."  And  Barnabas  was  right:  John  Mark  later 
became  one  of  that  group  of  attendants  to  the  apostles, 
helpers,  and  fellow  workers  in  the  missionary  field  to 
whom  the  early  church  owed  an  inestimable  debt.  One 
of  our  Gospels  was  written  by  him — or  at  least,  is  based 
upon  narratives  of  Jesus'  life  and  teaching  which  Mark 
wrote  down. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  were  each  determined  to  have  his 
way,  and  since  neither  would  compromise  an  inch,  they 
decided  to  part.  Barnabas  took  Mark  and  sailed  for 
Cyprus;  Paul  chose  Silas,  the  ''prophet"  who  had  been 
sent  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch  with  the  Epistle 
against  the  "judaizers,"  and  set  forth  to  revisit  Asia 
Minor. 

In  Galatia  again. — ^The  route  selected  was  the  high- 
way north  and  west  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  where 
Paul  revisited  the  churches  which  he  had  founded  in  the 
years  before  his  first  missionary  journey;  then  up  from 
Tarsus  through  the  CiKcian  Gates  and  west  across  the 
kingdom  of  Antiochus  by  the  shortest  road  to  Derbe 
and  Lystra.  Here  they  found  the  disciples  and  delivered 
the  "decrees"  of  the  council  at  Jerusalem.  Why  Paul 
should  read  them  to  his  converts  in  Galatia,  when  the 
apostolic  Epistle  had  been  addressed  only  to  the  Gentile 
Christians  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  we  do  not  know.  Per- 
haps the  reason  is  that  he  foresaw  the  same  problem 
arising  in  Galatia  which  had  recently  troubled  the  Chris- 
tians in  Antioch — and  in  this  he  was  not  mistaken. 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  MACEDONIA  139 

Three  years  later  he  was  to  write  his  impassioned  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  begging  them  not  to  yield  to  the  ''false 
brethren"  who  had  come  to  spy  out  their  liberty  in 
Christ  and  enslave  them  once  and  for  all  in  the  fetters 
of  the  Law. 

At  Lystra,  Paul  found  Timothy,  a  young  man  whose 
father  was  a  Greek  and  his  mother  a  Jewess  who  had 
been  won  to  the  gospel.  He  was  now  well  known  as  a 
Christian  in  Iconium  as  well  as  Lystra,  and  Paul  de- 
termined to  take  him  along  with  himself  and  Silas  as 
a  teacher  and  "minister."  The  decision  was  a  wise  one, 
for  Timothy  became  not  only  a  constant  friend  and 
companion,  but  a  faithful  Christian  leader,  and  when 
Paul  was  imprisoned  and  led  away  to  die  he  took  charge 
of  the  churches  in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  as  his  succes- 
sor. One  tradition  states  that  he  was  the  first  bishop  of 
the  church  in  Ephesus. 

The  journey  to  Troas. — Instead  of  returning  to  An- 
tioch,  now  that  the  churches  had  been  visited  and 
''strengthened  in  the  faith,"  and  were  seen  to  be  increas- 
ing in  numbers  daily,  Paul  determined  to  press  on  still 
farther  westward.  Just  as  at  the  end  of  their  tour  of 
Cyprus,  Paul  and  Barnabas  crossed  over  to  Pamphylia 
instead  of  returning  home,  so  it  was  here.  Paul  saw 
before  him,  in  imagination,  the  vast,  populous,  busy 
cities  on  the  western  coast.  For  hundreds  of  years, 
"Asia"  (that  is,  the  province  so  named)  had  been  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  regions  in  the  world.  Cicero  had 
said,  in  one  of  his  speeches, 

"The  revenues  of  other  provinces,  gentlemen,  are 
so  meager  that  we  scarcely  derive  enough  from 
them  to  meet  the  cost  of  their  defense.  But  Asia  is 
so  rich  and  productive  that  the  fertility  of  its  soil, 
the  variety  of  its  fruits,  the  vastness  of  its  pasture 


140     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

lands,  the  multitude  of  its  commodities  for  export 
far  exceeds  that  of  all  other  countries." — ^For  the 
Manilian  Law,  6. 

Here  were  millions  of  people  awaiting  the  message  of  the 
gospel.  Paul  wished  at  once  to  go  down  the  long  roads 
from  the  Galatian  highlands  and  preach  the  good 
tidings  in  their  cities. 

But  it  was  not  so  to  be.  Whether  by  vision  or  words 
heard  in  trance,  or  by  some  other  strange  premonition, 
the  Spirit  forbade  their  preaching  in  Asia.  Westward 
they  could  not  go.  Eastward  or  southward  they  would 
not.  Hence  northward  their  journey  lay.  The  course 
of  this  tour  is  difhcult  to  follow.  Paul,  of  course,  traveled 
without  a  guide  book,  and  Luke  very  likely  wrote  with- 
out a  map.  The  Acts  states  that  they  traveled  "through 
the  region  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia,"  thus  avoiding  the 
province  of  Asia  on  their  left.  Planning  to  go  into 
Bithynia,  the  province  farther  north,  on  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  they  were  once  more 
hindered  by  "the  Spirit  of  Jesus."  Passing  by  Mysia 
(the  old  Greek  region  south  of  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and 
east  of  the  Hellespont) ,  they  came  at  last  to  Troas.  We 
must  assume  that  the  route  was  somewhat  as  foUows: 
Iconium  to  Antioch,  Antioch  north  through  Amorium 
or  Pessinus  to  Dorylaeum,  or  perhaps  through  Apameia 
(on  the  way  to  Asia)  to  Cotiaeum  or  Dorylaeum  (on  the 
way  to  Bithynia),  then  west  over  the  rough,  dangerous 
mountain  roads  of  upper  Phrygia  to  the  highways  of 
western  or  northern  Mysia  and  down  these  to  Alex- 
andria Troas.  At  the  very  least,  the  journey  from 
Pisidian  Antioch  to  Troas  covered  between  four  and  five 
hundred  miles.  And  it  ended  within  fifteen  miles  of 
Ilium,  the  Troy  of  Homer's  epic.  They  were  now  almost 
a  thousand  miles  from  Syria.    The  missionaries  had 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  MACEDONIA  141 

crossed  Asia  Minor  and  stood  before  ''the  wide  pros- 
pect"— Troas  was  only  a  stepping-stone  to  Europe! 

PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI 

At  last  it  became  clear  why  the  Spirit  had  forbid- 
den Paul  and  his  two  companions  to  preach  in  Asia 
and  Bithynia.  One  night  at  Troas,  Paul  saw  a  vision 
— a  Macedonian  stood  before  him,  beckoning  him 
and  imploring,  ''Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help 
us!" 

Across  the  JEgean. — Paul  lost  no  time  in  obeying 
this  word  of  command— for  so  he  interpreted  what  he  had 
seen  and  heard.  Taking  passage  on  a  vessel  bound  for  the 
harbor  of  Neapolis,  they  made  the  island  of  Samothrace, 
thanks  to  a  good  wind,  on  the  first  day;  the  remainder 
of  the  voyage  was  easily  made  on  the  day  following. 
Landing  at  Neapohs,  the  three  hastened  north  twelve 
miles  to  Philippi.  This  was  the  chief  city  of  the  district, 
a  Roman  colony,  inhabited  mainly  by  Italians,  the 
wealthy  owners  and  their  employees  in  the  nearby  gold 
and  silver  mines. 

Before  we  go  further  let  us  note  the  striking  change 
in  person  of  Luke's  verbs.  In  Acts  16:10  he  says, 
"When  he  (Paul)  had  seen  the  vision,  at  once  we  set 
about  going  into  Macedonia."  Instead  of  "he"  and 
"they,"  the  narrative  now  reads  "we."  Throughout  the 
remainder  of  the  volume,  there  occur  passages  where 
"we"  is  used  instead  of  "they"  (Acts  16: 10-17;  20:  5- 
15;  21: 1-8;  27: 1  to  28: 16).  It  is  thought  that  Luke  is 
here  using  excerpts  taken  from  the  account  of  someone 
who  actually  accompanied  Paul  on  the  journeys  de- 
scribed, possibly  from  his  own  diary  written  down  at 
the  time.  Certainly,  these  sections  rank  high  as  his- 
torical sources. 


142     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  conversion  of  Lydia. — Their  first  move  in 
Philippi  was  to  attend  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath. 
But  instead  of  a  synagogue  they  found  only  a  "place  of 
prayer"  outside  the  city  wall,  on  the  bank  of  a  small 
stream.  Here  were  several  women  gathered  for  worship — 
there  were  probably  only  a  few  Jews  in  Philippi — whom 
they  addressed,  following  Paul's  usual  custom.  Among 
them  was  a  woman  from  Thyatira,  in  the  province  of 
Asia,  a  seller  of  purple  cloth.  She  was  probably  un- 
married and  well  to  do,  having  her  own  "household"  of 
slaves  and  workmen  and  managing  the  business  herself. 
She  listened  intently  to  their  message  and  "her  heart  was 
opened  by  the  Lord";  she  was  baptized,  and  then  invited 
the  missionaries  to  accept  the  hospitahty  of  her  home. 

The  ventriloquist. — Another  day,  as  Paul,  Silas  and 
Timothy  (and  Luke?)  were  going  out  to  the  proseuche,  or 
place  of  prayer,  a  slave  girl  who  was  a  ventriloquist  and 
fortune-teller  saw  them  and  began  following  them  about. 
She  was,  people  thought,  possessed  of  a  demon,  a 
"python,"  and  she  brought  her  owners  much  gain  from 
her  "soothsaying."  Whether  in  mockery  or  in  earnest, 
she  began  shouting  after  the  Christians,  "These  men 
are  servants  of  God  the  Most  High,  and  proclaim  a  way 
of  salvation."  This  was  repeated  frequently,  wherever, 
in  fact,  Paul  or  his  friends  met  her  on  the  streets.  At 
last,  one  day,  Paul  turned  and  commanded  the  possess- 
ing spirit  to  leave  her.  At  once  she  ceased  to  cry  out, 
and  evidently  her  soothsaying  power  was  gone. 

Her  masters,  angered  at  their  loss,  seized  Paul  and 
Silas  and  dragged  them  before  the  judges  in  the  agora, 
accusing  them  of  preaching  a  religion  not  recognized  by 
the  state.  They  described  the  apostles  as  Jews,  and 
stirred  up  the  anti- Jewish  feeling  of  their  Italian  neigh- 
bors— a   feeling   common   at   the   time,   and  probably 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  MACEDONIA  143 

strong  in  such  a  loyalist  town  as  Philippi,  for  the  Jews 
had  just  been  expelled  from  Rome  by  order  of  the 
Emperor  Claudius  (Acts  18:  2).  A  crowd  gathered  and 
sided  with  the  girl's  masters  against  the  strangers;  and 
the  praetors,  who  should  have  been  judges  and  heard 
both  sides  of  the  case,  commanded  them  to  be  beaten 
with  rods  and  thrown  in  jail. 

Paul  and  Silas  in  prison.— All  this  was  manifestly 
and  brutally  unjust.  Paul  and  Silas  had  done  no  wrong. 
They  were  victims  of  that  same  superstition,  fanaticism, 
and  jealous  intolerance  which  had  already  cast  great  ob- 
stacles in  their  way  as  missionaries,  and  which  was  later 
to  arouse  against  the  church  the  fiercest  persecutions. 

The  next  morning  the  praetors  sent  lictors  to  set  the 
prisoners  free.  But  Paul  refused  to  go,  on  the  ground 
that  he  and  Silas  were  Roman  citizens,  and  had  been 
beaten  publicly,  condemned  without  a  trial,  and  thrown 
in  prison.  'Tet  the  praetors  themselves  come  and  lead 
us  out!"  So  the  lictors  returned  and  reported  what  Paul 
had  said.  Much  alarmed,  that  they  had  thus  abused 
Roman  citizens,  the  praetors  came  and  begged  them  to 
come  out  of  the  prison  and  leave  the  city.  Then  Paul 
and  Silas  came  out,  and  went  to  the  house  of  Lydia. 
''And  when  they  had  seen  the  brethren,  they  exhorted 
them  and  departed." 

Thus  began  the  Christian  mission  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  In  response  to  a  vision  and  a  call,  "Come  over 
into  Macedonia  and  help  us,"  they  had  come — only  to 
be  beaten  with  rods,  cast  into  jail,  and  ordered  out  of 
the  city!  Were  the  missionaries  discouraged  or  down- 
hearted? No;  for  they  had  a  vision  of  God's  plan,  and 
they  were  fellow  workers  with  him  in  carrying  it  out. 
And  their  Master  was  one  who  had  never  shunned 
suffering  or  self-sacrifice. 


144    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Trace  on  a  sketch-map  Paul's  probable  route  from 

Antioch  to  Philippi,  as  described  in  this  chapter. 
Where  the  route  is  uncertain,  use  dots  rather  than 
a  continuous  line.  Samothrace  had  no  harbor. 
The  ship  probably  anchored  overnight  at  the  north 
end  of  the  island.  Study  this  route  first  on  a  large- 
scale  map  (for  example,  Murray's),  and  locate  all 
the  cities  mentioned. 

2.  Explain  why  Paul  and  Barnabas  disagreed  over  taking 

John  Mark  with  them.  What  were  their  probable 
motives?  Barnabas,  like  his  Master,  saw  latent 
goodness  and  usefulness  in  one  who  really  deserved 
no  "second  chance."  How  should  this  example 
affect  our  dealings  with  those  who  fail  the  first  time? 
Does  it  suggest  God's  patience  with  us  when  we  fall 
short  and  ask  a  "second  chance"? 

3.  Why  did  Paul  read  the  decrees  of  the  Jerusalem  coim- 

cil  in  Galatia? 

4.  What  led  Paid  to  Troas?    Recall  the  visions  he  had 

seen  (Acts  9:3-6;  22:17-21;  Galatians  1:16;  2:2; 
compare  2  Corinthians  12:  1-4)  and  the  activity  of 
"prophets"  in  the  early  church  (Acts  11:27-28; 
15:  32;  21:  lo-ii).  Note  also  the  direct  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  which  the  early  Christians  obeyed 
(Acts  1:24-26;  2:4;  5:32;  10:44;  13-2;  15:28; 
20:  22-23). 
$.  What  is  meant  by  the  "we"  sections?  Look  them  up, 
and  make  a  list  of  the  journeys  or  parts  of  journeys 
described  and  the  cities  named. 

6.  Recall  what  you  have  already  learned,  or  look  up 

again,  the  significance  of  Roman  citizenship  and  de- 
fine the  rights  which  Paul  claimed  at  Philippi. 

7.  Look  up  Acts  16:  25-34,  which  recounts  an  old  tradi- 

tional story  of  an  earthquake  which  occurred  while 
Paxil  and  Silas  were  in  jail  at  Philippi.    It  is  a  beau- 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  MACEDONIA  145 

tiful  story,  and  not  altogether  improbable.  But  it 
evidently  does  not  belong  in  the  account  here,  for 
in  verses  35-40  nothing  is  said  of  the  earthquake; 
if  it  had  occurred  during  the  night,  silence  would 
have  been  impossible. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

BEFORE  THE  AREOPAGUS 

Leaving  Philippi,  accompanied  by  Silas  and  Timothy, 
Paul  journeyed  southwestward  along  the  line  military 
and  commercial  highway,  called  the  Via  Egnatia,  which 
crossed  from  the  iEgean  to  the  Adriatic  over  the  Balkan 
peninsula.  Passing  by  Amphipolis,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Strymon  River,  thirty  miles  from  Philippi,  and 
going  on  through  Apollonia,  thirty  miles  beyond,  they 
reached  Thessalonica,  nearly  forty  miles  farther  still. 
This  city  (modern  Saloniki,  famous  in  the  recent  Euro- 
pean war)  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Thermaic  Gulf,  and 
was  at  that  time  the  residence  of  the  governor  and  the 
seat  of  the  government  of  the  whole  Macedonian 
province. 

IN  THESSALONICA  AND  BERGEA 

Here  Paul  and  Silas  remained  for  a  considerable  time 
— Luke  says  for  three  weeks.  A  gift  of  money  from  the 
tiny  church  in  Philippi  made  possible  the  continuation 
of  this  visit  (Philippians  4:  15-16). 

"Now  when  they  had  passed  through  Amphipolis 
and  Apollonia,  they  came  to  Thessalonica,  where 
was  a  synagogue  of  Jews;  and  Paul,  as  his  custom 
was,  went  in  unto  them,  and  for  three  Sabbath  days 
reasoned  with  them  from  the  Scriptures,  opening 
and  alleging  that  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to 
rise  again  from  the  dead;  and  that  *This  Jesus, 
whom,'  said  he,  *I  proclaim  unto  you,  is  the  Christ.' 
And  some  of  them  were  persuaded  and  consorted 
146 


A 


BEFORE  THE  AREOPAGUS  147 

with  Paul  and  Silas;  and  of  the  devout  Greeks  a 
great  multitude,  and  of  the  chief  women  not  a  few. 
But  the  Jews  being  moved  with  jealousy,  took  unto 
them  certain  vile  fellows  of  the  rabble;  and  gather- 
ing a  crowd,  set  the  city  in  an  uproar;  and  assaulting 
the  house  of  Jason,  they  sought  to  bring  them  forth 
to  the  people.  And  when  they  found  them  not,  they 
dragged  Jason  and  certain  brethren  before  the  rulers 
of  the  city,  crying,  'These  that  have  turned  the 
world  upside  down  are  come  hither  also,  whom  Jason 
has  received;  and  these  all  act  contrary  to  the  de- 
crees of  Caesar,  saying  that  there  is  another  king, 
one  Jesus.*  And  they  troubled  the  multitude  and 
the  rulers  of  the  city  when  they  heard  these  things. 
And  when  they  had  taken  security  from  Jason  and 
the  rest,  they  let  them  go." — Acts  17: 1-9. 

"Another  king,  one  Jesus." — The  charge  that  the 
Christian  missionaries  were  ' 'acting  contrary  to  the 
decrees  of  Caesar"  means  that  they  were  refusing  to  pay 
divine  honors  to  the  Emperor,  not  that  they  disclaimed 
civil  allegiance  or  refused  to  obey  the  laws  on  account 
of  their  loyalty  to  Jesus.  Divine  honors  were  claimed  in 
the  name  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  at  that  time,  because 
he  was  looked  upon  as  the  incarnation  of  the  "genius  of 
the  empire."  This  worship  was  held  to  be  a  patriotic 
duty.  And  among  pagans,  who  worshiped  "gods  many 
and  lords  many,"  there  seemed  nothing  sacrilegious  or 
wicked  in  worshiping  one  more,  even  though  he  were  a 
human  being  like  themselves.  But  for  Christians  such 
an  act  was  blasphemy.  There  was  only  one  God,  and 
no  imperial  decree  could  justify  the  offering  of  worship 
to  any  other.  This  was  one  of  the  great  causes  for  the 
persecution  of  the  early  Christians.  We  see  it  in  its 
earliest  beginnings  here  at  Thessalonica. 


148     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  letters  to  the  Thessalonians. — Brief  as  was 
Paul's  stay  in  Thessalonica,  the  seed  was  sown,  and  soon 
after  we  see  a  flourishing  Christian  church  in  that  city. 
The  earliest  letters  of  Paul  which  have  come  down  to 
us  were  the  two  which  he  addressed  to  these  new  con- 
verts, Jason  and  his  friends.  These  letters  are  in  our 
New  Testament  and  were  written  from  Corinth,  shortly 
after  Paul's  departure  from  Thessalonica.  He  wrote  to 
encourage  them  to  continue  steadfast  in  the  faith,  in  the 
face  of  persecution  (i  Thessalonians  i:i-6;  2:14-16). 
Some  of  them  were  so  interested  in  the  preaching  of  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  Christ's  return  that 
they  gave  up  their  work  and  became  "busybodies^'  and 
got  into  trouble.  To  them  Paul  repeated  his  word  of 
command,  "If  any  will  not  work,  let  him  not  eat"  (2 
Thessalonians  3 :  10).  No  doubt  the  letters  contain  other 
echoes  of  Paul's  preaching,  and  we  can  imagine  him 
saying  (as  well  as  writing)  such  admonitions  as  the 
following: 

"Brethren,  we  beg  you  to  honor  those  who  work 
among  you,  presiding  over  you  in  the  Lord  and 
maintaining  discipline;  hold  them  in  special  esteem 
and  affection,  for  the  sake  of  their  work.  Be  at 
peace  among  yourselves.  We  beseech  you  to  keep 
a  check  upon  idlers;  encourage  the  faint-hearted, 
sustain  the  weak,  never  lose  your  temper  with  any; 
see  that  none  pays  back  evil  for  evil,  but  always 
follow  what  is  kind  to  one  another  and  to  all  the 
world;  rejoice  at  all  times;  never  give  up  prayer; 
thank  God  for  everything — such  is  His  will  for  you 
in  Christ  Jesus;  never  quench  the  fire  of  the  Spirit; 
never  disdain  prophetic  revelations,  but  test  them 
all,  retaining  what  is  good  and  abstaining  from 
whatever  kind  is  evil." — i  Thessalonians  5: 12-22. 
It  was  very  hard  for  Paul  to  leave  his  new  friends  in 


BEFORE  THE  AREOPAGUS  149 

one  city  and  press  on  to  the  next;  but  even  when  persecu- 
tion did  not  force  him  to  flee  he  felt  compelled  to  do  it, 
for  he  wanted  to  see  Christianity  planted  throughout 
the  civilized  world  before  he  died. 

At  Beroea. — Driven  from  Thessalonica,  Paul  and  his 
companions  journeyed  to  Beroea,  a  city  lying  forty  miles 
to  the  southwest,  at  the  foot  of  the  Bermius  Mountains, 
and  near  the  northern  end  of  the  beautiful,  rugged 
Haliacmon  valley.  Here  also  was  a  Jewish  synagogue, 
where  Paul,  following  his  usual  custom,  began  by  preach- 
ing to  his  race.  'These  were  more  noble,"  says  Luke, 
"than  those  in  Thessalonica,  in  that  they  received  the 
word  with  all  readiness  of  mind,  examining  the  Scrip- 
tures daily,  whether  these  thmgs  were  so"  (Acts  17:  11). 
As  a  result,  many  believed,  including  a  number  of 
Greeks,  both  men  and  women.  But,  just  as  it  had  been 
at  Lystra,  so  was  it  here:  the  Jews  of  Thessalonica, 
hearing  that  Paul  was  in  Beroea,  came  and  stirred  up 
trouble  among  the  "multitudes"— probably  using  the 
same  dishonest  charge  as  before.  For  Jews,  if  they  were 
loyal  to  their  rehgion,  were  just  as  guilty  as  Christians 
of  refusing  to  pay  divine  honors  to  Caesar.  No  worshiper 
of  the  one  true  God  could  dream  of  such  a  betrayal  of 
his  faith. 

Foreseeing  the  trouble  that  was  about  to  break  out, 
Paul  set  out,  with  a  few  of  the  "brethren,"  to  go  down 
to  the  sea,  leaving  Silas  and  Timothy  behind  to  carry 
on  the  work. 

PAUL  AT  ATHENS 

Instead  of  returning  northward,  Paul,  still  accom- 
panied by  the  "brethren,"  took  ship,  probably  at 
Chalastra  (or  perhaps  further  south  at  Heracleum)  and 
sailed  down  along  the  coast.    Passing  Mount  Olympus, 


150     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  ancient  home  of  the  Hellenic  gods,  and  the  Vale  of 
Tempe,  and  Mount  Ossa;  then  out  beyond  Euboea  (the 
tide  in  the  inner  straits  of  the  Euripus  was  too  danger- 
ous), past  the  islands  of  Andros  and  Ceos;  then  rounding 
westward  past  the  Cape  of  Sunium  with  its  glorious 
temple  of  Poseidon  shining  in  the  sunlight  against  the 
gray-green  hiUs  and  blue  skies  of  Attica,  soon  the  island 
of  Salamis,  then  the  Piraeus,  and  at  last  Athens  itself 
came  in  view.  Bidding  the  ''brethren"  fareweU  at  the 
pier,  and  sending  a  message  to  Silas  and  Timothy  to 
follow  him  at  once,  Paul  set  out  for  Athens,  up  the  street 
walled  on  both  sides  which  connected  it  with  the  port. 

The  city  of  art  and  learning. — How  was  Paul  im- 
pressed by  his  first  sight  of  this  ancient  city,  once  the 
world's  capital  of  culture  and  civilization?  As  a  Jew, 
its  glorious  temples  and  statues,  even  the  exquisite  beauty 
of  its  Parthenon  with  Phidias'  colossal  Athena  standing 
before  it,  its  stadium  and  theaters,  its  halls  of  learning 
and  schools  of  philosophy  would  impress  him  less  than 
it  would  impress  a  modern  man,  either  Jew  or  Gentile. 
To  the  Jews  of  that  time,  who  saw  all  about  them  the 
darker  side  of  polytheism,  and  who  had  suffered  most 
barbarous  persecutions  in  the  name  of  culture,  Athens 
itself  might  well  seem  only  artistic  and  luxurious  cam- 
ouflage for  the  deepest  and  most  degrading  moral 
corruption.  Not  all  Jews  felt  that  way.  But  Jews  from 
Palestine,  sons  of  Pharisees,  men  trained  in  rabbinic 
theology  as  Paul  was,  usually  held  such  an  attitude.  To 
Paul,  it  might  easily  seem  that  Athens  was  "wholly 
given  over  to  idolatry." 

Among  the  philosophers. — Even  its  schools  of  phi- 
losophy might  make  Kttle  impression  upon  his  mind. 
AU  that  their  speculations  did  for  men  was  to  arouse — 
but  not  really  to  satisfy — the  hunger  for  God.   One  page 


BEFORE  THE  AREOPAGUS  151 

irom  the  prophets  led  men  nearer  God  than  all  the 
writings  of  Plato  and  the  Stoics;  and,  for  all  its  long- 
continued  efforts,  philosophy  had  not  succeeded  in 
giving  men  the  intense  love  of  right  and  hatred  of  wrong 
which  the  Law  of  Moses  had  done.  "The  wisdom  of  this 
world,"  said  Paul,  ''is  fooHshness  before  God." 

To-day,  of  course,  we  have  more  sympathy  with  those 
old  Greek  and  Roman  teachers  of  philosophy,  of  morals, 
of  history  and  literature.  We  are  still  touched  by  the 
words  of  the  aged  philosopher-slave,  Epictetus,  who 
lived  in  Rome  at  the  very  time  Paul  was  preaching  the 
gospel  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia: 

"Ought  we  not  both  in  public  and  in  private  inces- 
santly to  sing  hymns  and  speak  well  of  the  Deity 
and  rehearse  his  benefits?  .  .  .  What  else  can  I,  a 
lame  old  man,  do  but  sing  hymns  to  God?  If  I 
were  a  nightingale,  I  would  act  the  part  of  a  nightin- 
gale, if  a  swan  the  part  of  a  swan;  but  since  I  am  a 
reasonable  creature  it  is  my  duty  to  praise  God. 
This  is  my  business.  I  do  it,  nor  will  I  ever  desert 
this  post  so  long  as  it  is  permitted  me;  and  I  exhort 
you  to  join  in  the  same  song." — Discourses,  i :  16. 

Wandering  teachers  of  philosophy,  rehgion,  and 
morahty  were  to  be  found  at  that  time  in  ahnost  every 
city  of  the  empire.  It  was  as  one  of  these  traveling 
teachers  that  Paul  was  invited  to  speak  before  the 
Areopagus,  the  "university  club"  of  the  city.  Lacking 
now,  under  the  Roman  government,  its  ancient  powers 
and  jurisdiction  (it  was  the  court  which  sentenced 
Socrates),  it  had  become  little  more  than  a  lyceum  or 
debating  society,  a  pleasant  meeting  place  for  congenial 
academic  spirits.  "For  all  the  Athenians  and  the 
strangers  there,"  as  Luke  says,  "spent  their  time  in 
nothing  else  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new 


152    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

thing."  Such  rights  as  the  Areopagus  still  possessed 
probably  did  not  exceed  that  of  licensing  new  teachers 
in  the  city,  or  approving  their  credentials. 

A  heraid  of  "strange  gods." — Paul  preached  in  the 
agora,  or  market  place,  each  day.  Here  he  met  followers 
and  teachers  of  the  Epicurean  and  Stoic  schools  of 
philosophy.  Some  of  them  smiled  haughtily  over  his 
simple,  unadorned  preaching,  and  looked  upon  him  as 
an  upstart  (or  ''seed -gatherer,"  in  the  Athenian  college 
slang  of  the  day),  an  ignorant  man  with  a  smattering  of 
learning  on  which  he  was  trying  to  "bluff"  his  way  as 
a  professor.  Others  said,  "He  seems  to  be  one  more  of 
these  Oriental  missionaries  with  two  gods — his  deities 
he  calls  Jesus  and  Anastasis^^  (anastasis  was  the  Greek 
word  for  "resurrection").  So  it  came  to  pass  that  they 
urged  him  to  speak  before  them  at  the  Areopagus — or, 
as  we  would  say,  "the  club." 

Paul's  address. — We  do  not  know  where  they  met. 
"Mars  HiU"  is  the  traditional  site;  but  the  term  is  only 
a  translation  of  "Areopagus."  Paul  began  in  a  tactful 
way.  He  had  recently  observed,  somewhere  in  the  city, 
an  altar  inscribed 

TO  AN  UNKNOWN  GOD 

This  had  no  doubt  been  erected  by  someone  who  had 
seen  a  vision,  or  heard  a  strange  and  apparently  super- 
natural voice,  or  been  prospered  in  business  or  restored 
to  health  by  a  God  whom  he  felt  to  be  in  that  particular 
spot,  but  whose  name  he  had  never  learned.  Altars  of 
this  kind,  dedicated  to  "unknown  gods,"  have  been  dis- 
covered elsewhere  in  the  Greek  world. 

The  inscription  furnished  Paul  with  his  "point  of 
contact,"  and  so  he  began  a  very  polished,  academic 
address: 


BEFORE  THE  AREOPAGUS  153 

"Gentlemen  of  Athens,  I  note  on  every  hand  that 
you  are  a  most  religious  people.  As  I  passed  along 
and  viewed  your  sacred  monuments,  I  found  among 
them  an  altar  with  the  inscription,  TO  AN  UN- 
KNOWN GOD.  The  One  whom  you  thus  worship 
in  ignorance  I  have  come  to  proclaim  to  you. 

"God,  who  made  the  world  and  all  that  is  therein, 
since  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwells  not  in 
sanctuaries  erected  by  human  hands;  nor  is  he 
ministered  to  by  the  hands  of  men,  as  though  he 
needed  anything,  he  who  is  the  Giver  to  all  of  life 
and  breath  and  all  things. 

"Moreover,  he  created  out  of  one  every  nation  of 
mankind,  to  inhabit  the  whole  face  of  the  earth, 
having  determined  beforehand  their  periods  and 
their  boundaries,  (and)  to  seek  after  God,  if  indeed 
in  groping  after  him  they  might  find  him — ^He  is 
really  not  far  from  any  one  of  us.  In  fact,  in  him 
we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being — a  truth  which 
certain  of  your  own  poets  have  expressed : 

*For  we  also  belong  to  his  race.* 
Since,  then,  we  belong  to  his  race,  we  ought  not  to 
imagine  that  the  Deity  resembles  gold  or  silver  or 
stone,  a  work  of  art  and  human  design. 

"The  ages  of  ignorance  (in  the  past)  God  has 
overlooked,  but  now  he  bids  all  men  everywhere  to 
repent,  since  he  has  appointed  a  day  in  which  he  is 
about  to  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  through  a 
man  whom  he  has  set  apart,  and  has  given  proof  of 
this  to  all  men  by  raising  him  from  the  dead." — 
Acts  17:22-31. 

But  when  he  reached  this  point  in  his  address,  the  men- 
tion of  the  "resurrection  of  the  dead,"  some  mocked, 
and  others  said,  politely,  "We  will  hear  you  at  some 
other  time  about  this."  They  were  either  slightly 
amused  or  plainly  bored.     Academic  men,  teachers  of 


154    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

philosophy  in  Athens,  had  no  time  for  these  Oriental 
superstitions!  The  fellow  seemed  harmless — no  Athenian 
would  take  stock  in  such  a  reHgion.  And  so  Paul  was 
dismissed  and  went  his  way.  Only  one  or  two,  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite,  and  a  woman  named  Damaris,  impressed 
by  the  deep  earnestness  of  Paul,  followed  him,  heard 
more  of  the  gospel,  and  beheved.  But  as  a  whole,  his 
effort  in  Athens  was  a  failure.  He  went  away  determined 
more  than  ever  to  shun  ''philosophy  and  the  wisdom  of 
this  world,"  to  know  nothing  but  ''Jesus  Christ,  and  him 
crucified,"  and  to  continue  his  preaching  among  the 
lowly  and  outcast — whose  hearts  were  open  and  recep- 
tive enough  to  hear  and  beheve  the  gospel. 

It  was  just  what  Jesus  had  found  in  his  ministry. 
These  things  were  "hidden  from  the  wise  and  under- 
standing, but  revealed  unto  babes."  So  it  is  still.  God 
cannot  make  himself  understood  by  the  cynical,  the 
proud,  the  self-satisfied,  the  patronizing.  God  is  "the 
high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity."  But  he 
"dwells  with  him  that  is  humble  in  heart." 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Trace  on  the  map  Paul's  joiimeys  described  in  this 

chapter.  Study  the  roads  and  routes  on  Murray's 
map  ("Graecia"),  and  find  the  places  named. 

2.  Of  what  importance  has  Thessalonica  (Saloniki)  been 

in  recent  years? 

3.  Explain  the  accusation  brought  against  Paul  and  his 

companions  at  Thessalonica.  Look  up  Emperor- 
worship  in  the  encyclopedia  or  in  your  ancient 
history. 

4.  Read  the  following  passages  from  the  letters  of  Paul 

to  the  Thessalonians :  i  Thessalonians  i :  i  to  2 :  2 ; 
2 :  13-20;  3 ;  4:  9-12 ;  5 :  i-i i ;  2  Thessalonians  i :  1-5 ; 


BEFORE  THE  AREOPAGUS  155 

2:13-17;  3:6-18.  What  are  the  main  points  in 
these  passages?    Jot  them  down  in  your  notebook. 

5.  Make  an  analysis  of  Paul's  address  before  the  Areopa- 

gus. Why  did  his  address  fail?  What  was  the 
character  of  his  hearers? 

6.  Study  the  chronological  table  in  this  volume.    Review 

it  up  to  the  present  point,  and  see  how  well  you  can 
visualize  the  progress  of  the  gospel  thus  far.  Recall 
in  detail  the  events  there  briefly  indicated. 

7.  Would   you   say  that  Epictetus'   words   prove  what 

Paul  said  at  Athens  about  men  "seeking  after  God"? 
What  may  this  suggest  to  us  about  believers  in  other 
religions  to-day?  Is  Christ  the  "fulfillment"  of 
other  hopes  and  prophecies,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Old  Testament? 

8.  Why  does  God  require  humility?    Can  you  remember 

any  words  of  our  Lord  upon  the  subject  ?  Show  how 
pride  and  self-satisfaction  keep  us  from  knowing 
and  doing  the  will  of  our  Father  in  heaven.  Do  you 
know  any  concrete  examples? 


CHAPTER  XVII 

PAUL  AT  CORINTH 

Fifty  miles  west  of  Athens,  around  the  Saronic  Gulf 
and  across  the  narrow  isthmus  connecting  northern  and 
southern  Greece,  lay  Corinth.  It  was  at  that  time  one 
of  the  most  important  commercial  centers  in  the  world. 
JuKus  Caesar  had  begun  a  canal  across  the  isthmus, 
which  was  not,  however,  finished  until  modern  times.  In 
Paul's  day,  a  wooden  railway  transported  freight,  and 
even  small  vessels,  from  the  Corinthian  Gulf  on  the  west 
to  the  Saronic  on  the  east,  and  thus  shortened  by  three 
hundred  miles  the  saihng  route  east  and  west  around 
the  dangerous  capes  of  Taenarus  and  Malea.  This  had 
been  especially  valuable  in  the  old  days  when  pirates 
roved  the  open  Mediterranean  and  preyed  upon  the 
growing  shipping  of  the  world.  As  a  result,  Corinth  had 
vastly  increased  in  wealth  and  population.  Probably 
between  three  hundred  thousand  and  five  hundred  thou- 
sand persons,  counting  slaves,  lived  there  in  the  first 
century.  Sailors  from  every  port  in  the  world  jostled 
elbows  on  the  quays  and  sang  their  chanties  as  they 
strolled  the  streets.  Rich  merchants  were  here,  agents 
and  supercargoes  and  commission  men  from  Spain  and 
Gaul,  Egypt,  Persia,  India,  the  Danube  valley,  Jewish 
traders  and  workmen,  and,  of  course,  Greeks  and 
Italians  in  great  numbers.  Corinth  was  one  of  the  key- 
cities  of  the  empire.  If  Christianity  could  be  planted 
here,  its  influence  would  reach  far  and  wide — ^much 
farther  and  wider  than  from  some  provincial  town  like 
Derbe  or  Bercea. 

156 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH  157 

For  all  its  business  and  wealth,  Corinth  was  a  city- 
famous  for  its  luxury  and  vice.  'To  live  as  a  Corinthian'' 
was  an  epithet  for  self-indulgence  and  intemperance. 
Drunkenness  was  common  and  morals  generally  were 
lax.  Religion  was  apparently  honored,  for  there  was  a 
famous  temple  of  Apollo,  then  several  centuries  old,  which 
stood  on  the  summit  of  Acro-corinthus,  a  towering  mass 
of  rock  over  eighteen  hundred  feet  in  height  just  south 
of  the  city,  and  could  be  seen  for  miles  in  every  direction. 
But  down  in  the  town,  religion,  even  the  religion  of 
Apollo,  which  had  once  been  a  noble  and  worthy  faith, 
had  little  influence.  Other  worships  had  come  in,  like 
the  immoral  cult  of  Astarte,  which  had  corrupted  the 
ancient  worship  of  the  sailors'  goddess.  Aphrodite.  The 
mass  of  the  people  were  sunk  deep  in  vice  and  sin. 
Hence  Christianity,  if  it  won  followers  in  Corinth,  was 
destined  to  have  a  hard  struggle  to  hold  its  converts,  and 
keep  them  from  lapsing  into  the  habits  and  customs  of 
their  neighbors. 

THE  HOUSE  BESIDE  THE  SYNAGOGUE 

Not  waiting  for  Silas  and  Timothy,  Paul  moved  on 
from  Athens  to  Corinth.  His  unsuccessful  effort  to 
convince  the  members  of  the  Areopagus,  and  the  atmos- 
phere of  Athens  as  a  whole,  its  complacent  and  artificial 
culture,  showed  him  the  uselessness  of  continuing  his 
work  there. 

Aquila  and  Priscilla. — He  had  not  been  long  in 
Corinth  before  he  met  a  man  and  his  wife,  Aquila  and 
Priscilla,  who  were  to  have  a  large  share  in  Paul's  life 
from  then  on.  They  were  tentmakers,  and  belonged 
therefore  to  Paul's  own  craft;  and  although  Aquila  was 
a  native  of  Pontus  (on  the  south  shore  of  the  Black  Sea), 
he  and  Priscilla  had  lived  in  Rome  until  lately,  when 


158    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

all  Jews  had  been  expelled  (49  A.  D.)  by  edict  of  the 
Emperor  Claudius.  Perhaps  they  were  Christians  already. 
Six  years  later  Paul  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Christians 
in  Rome  (Romans  1:7),  so  there  may  easily  have  been 
Christians  there  before  the  time  of  Claudius'  edict.  At 
least  they  extended  hospitahty  to  Paul  at  once,  and  he 
accepted  it,  toiUng  in  the  shop  during  the  week  and 
preaching  on  Sabbaths  in  the  synagogue. 

The  house  of  Titus  Justus. — A  few  weeks  later 
Silas  and  Timothy  arrived,  and  Paul  began  more  active 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  This  aroused  the  opposition  of 
the  orthodox  Jews,  just  as  it  had  done  in  other  cities, 
and  they  refused  to  hear  him  any  longer  or  permit  him 
to  preach  in  their  synagogue.  Then  Paul  "shook  out  his 
raiment,"  Luke  says,  and  solemnly  told  them,  "Your 
blood  be  upon  your  own  heads;  I  am  clean;  from  hence- 
forth I  will  go  unto  the  Gentiles." 

One  of  the  converts  to  Paul's  message  was  a  man  with 
a  Latin  name,  Titus  Justus,  whose  house  was  next  door 
to  the  synagogue.  Leaving  the  synagogue,  Paul  began 
holding  services  in  Titus'  house,  and  this  became  the 
headquarters  of  the  church  from  now  on.  It  would  not 
be  surprising  if  such  a  situation,  with  the  despised  Chris- 
tians holding  services  next  door  to  the  synagogue,  aroused 
deep  resentment  among  the  narrow,  orthodox  Jews. 
StiU  more  resentful  were  they  when  Crispus,  the  "ruler 
of  the  synagogue,"  was  converted  and  became  a  Chris- 
tian, together  with  his  whole  household.  And  besides 
him  were  many  others,  Jews  and  Greeks. 

Freedom  from  persecution. — Whether  the  Jews 
were  too  few  in  numbers,  or  lacking  in  influence,  or 
possessed  of  more  generosity  or  discretion  than  those  in 
other  cities  where  Paul  labored,  or  were  still  smarting 
from  the  blow  given  them  by  Claudius,  we  do  not  know. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH  159 

But  for  some  reason  they  made  no  attempt  to  persecute 
the  missionaries  or  to  start  a  riot  among  the  people. 
Indeed,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  Paul  was  from  now 
on  unmolested  by  members  of  his  own  race. 

At  this  time  he  had  another  of  his  visions.  One  night 
in  a  dream  he  saw  Jesus  speaking  to  him  and  saying, 

"Be  not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace. 
For  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to 
harm  thee.  For  I  have  much  people  in  this  city." — 
Acts  18:9-10. 

So  Paul  continued  in  Corinth,  teaching  and  preaching 
in  Titus'  house  beside  the  synagogue  for  a  whole  year 
and  six  months. 

Paul's  letters. — It  was  during  this  time  that  Paul 
wrote  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians.  Before  rejoining 
him  in  Corinth  Timothy  had  returned  to  Thessalonica 
to  see  how  the  church  was  faring  in  that  city;  and  when 
he  came  bringing  the  news  of  their  stedfastness  and 
loyalty  Paul  at  once  wrote  the  letter  called  First  Thes- 
salonians (see  3:6-8  and  1:2-5).  A  few  months  later 
he  sent  them  a  second  letter,  which  we  now  read  in  our 
New  Testament  as  Second  Thessalonians. 

It  was  perhaps  about  this  same  time,  or  shortly  after- 
ward, that  he  wrote  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  impassioned  letters  ever  written.  News 
had  reached  Paul  that  the  "judaizers"  were  resuming 
their  work,  not  now  in  Syria  or  Cihcia,  but  in  Galatia — 
the  very  churches  where  he  and  Barnabas  had  planted 
the  gospel  at  the  risk  of  their  Hves  and  amid  terrible 
hardships  and  sufferings.  He  was  told  that  some  of  the 
Christians  were  actually  turning  to  this  Jewish  Chris- 
tianity—or "Christian  Judaism,"  as  it  ought  to  be 
called.    Not  only  were  the  ''judaizers"  teaching  that  it 


i6o     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

was  necessary  for  Christians  to  keep  the  whole  Jewish 
Law,  but  they  were  attacking  Paul's  apostleship.  They 
said  that  he  received  his  gospel  "from  men,"  that  is, 
from  the  original  apostles  in  Jerusalem,  and  that  he  had 
never  seen  or  known  Jesus,  and  hence  had  no  authority 
to  represent  him. 

To  this  Paul  replied  in  burning  words.  He  was  hurt 
to  the  quick.  His  heart  ached  for  the  simple,  wayward, 
easily  deceived  behevers  in  the  remote  upland  cities  of 
Galatia,  some  of  whom  were  his  friends,  some  of  whom 
he  had  never  seen,  converted  after  his  last  visit.  His 
just  indignation  against  the  underhanded  tactics  of  his 
opponents  was  white-hot.  Yet  in  not  one  word  does  he 
lose  control  of  himself,  or  forget  his  true  aim,  to  win  back 
his  converts,  to  defend  the  liberty  of  the  gospel,  to 
render  harmless  the  attacks  of  his  maligners. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  Paul  dictating  this  Epistle  in  his 
chamber  in  Titus'  house,  pacing  up  and  down  in 
anguished  agitation.  Timothy  or  Silas  or  some  hired 
scribe  would  write  down  as  rapidly  as  he  could  Paul's 
swiftly  flowing  sentences.  At  the  end,  he  sits  down  and 
in  his  own  coarse  handwriting  (it  is  said  that  his  eyesight 
was  poor)  adds  the  conclusion: 

"See  with  what  large  letters  I  write  to  you  with 
my  own  hand. — ^As  many  as  desire  to  make  a  display 
compel  you  to  be  circumcised  and  keep  the  Jewish 
Law.  Far  be  it  from  them,  though,  to  be  persecuted 
on  account  of  the  cross  of  Christ!  For  those  who 
receive  the  rite  do  not  really  keep  the  Law  any 
better:  they  desire  you  to  receive  it  only  that  they 
may  glory  in  your  flesh.  But  far  be  it  from  me  to 
glory  at  all,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  through  whom  the  world  has  been  crucified 
to  me  and  I  unto  the  world.    For  neither  is  circum« 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH  i6i 

cision  anything,  nor  uncircumcision ;  what  counts  is 
a  whole  new  creation — a'  fresh  beginning,  a  new 
life.  As  many  as  will  be  guided  by  this  rule,  peace 
be  upon  them,  and  mercy,  for  they  are  the  true 
Israel  of  God. 

"From  now  on,  let  no  one  trouble  me  (over  keep- 
ing the  Law) ;  for  I  bear  on  my  own  body  the  slave- 
brand  of  Jesus*  ownership. 

"The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  your 
spirit,  brethren.    Amen." — Galatians  6: 11-18. 

Thus  was  composed  the  letter  which  has  been  called 
the  ''magna  charta  of  Christian  liberty."  Its  effect  when 
read  in  the  churches  of  Galatia  must  have  been  what 
Paul  desired.  For  we  hear  of  no  further  trouble  from 
the  "judaizers";  and  the  churches  addressed  preserved 
the  letter — which  they  would  not  have  done  if  they  had 
repudiated  its  author. 

THE  ARRIVAL  OF  GALLIC 

Paul  had  now  been  in  Corinth  for  eighteen  months. 
It  was  a  time  of  peace  and  quiet.  Day  by  day  he  labored 
in  Aquila's  shop,  and  in  his  spare  time  and  on  Sabbaths 
preached  the  gospel  and  conducted  the  Christian  services 
of  worship  in  Justus*  house. 

A  new  proconsul. — -Then  came  a  change  in  the 
political  situation  at  Corinth.  Gallio,  a  brother  of  the 
Roman  philosopher  Seneca,  was  sent  to  the  province  of 
Achaia  as  proconsul.  The  Jews  took  this  opportunity  to 
bring  charges  against  Paul.  So  they  seized  him  and  led 
him  into  the  praetor ium  on  the  excuse  that  "this  man 
persuades  men  to  worship  God  contrary  to  the  Law." 
But  before  Paul  had  time  to  begin  his  defense,  Gallio 
had  seen  through  the  plot  and  said:  'Tf  it  were  some 
crime  with  which  you  accuse  this  man,  there  would  be 


i62    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

a  reason  for  Hstening  to  you.  But  if  it  is  only  a  technical 
question  relating  to  your  own  reKgious  law,  see  to  that 
yourselves.  I  am  not  going  to  be  a  judge  of  such 
matters."    With  this  he  expelled  them  from  the  court. 

The  rabble,  which  had  been  stirred  up  by  the  Jews' 
seizure  of  Paul,  was  waiting  just  outside  the  court,  eager 
for  an  opportunity  to  start  a  tumult.  As  the  unsatisfied 
complainants  came  out,  the  crowd  laid  hold  of  their 
leader,  Sosthenes,  the  new  ruler  of  the  synagogue  (in 
Crispus'  place),  and  gave  him  a  terrible  beating.  Gallio, 
like  many  other  Romans,  was  no  friend  of  the  Jews,  and 
made  no  effort  to  stop  this  proceeding. 

Paul's  departure. — Gallio  arrived  in  Corinth  in  the 
simimer  of  the  year  51.  Later  that  summer  or  early  in 
autumn,  Paul  left  Corinth  to  return  to  Syria.  Going 
down  to  Cenchreae  on  the  Saronic  Gulf,  accompanied  by 
Silas,  Priscilla,  and  Aquila,  he  crossed  to  Ephesus.  There 
he  remained  over  one  Sabbath  and  visited  the  synagogue, 
then  took  ship  again  and  sailed  for  the  East.  Priscilla 
and  Aquila  remained  behind,  and,  as  he  left  them,  Paul 
promised  to  return. 

It  was  three  years  since  Paul  and  Silas  left  Antioch 
and  set  out  across  Asia  Minor  on  the  ^'second  missionary 
journey."  They  had  traveled  more  than  two  thousand 
miles  when  they  returned,  and  had  founded  Christian 
churches  far  to  the  west  of  Cyprus  and  Galatia.  Chris- 
tianity was  now  a  growing  force  in  strategic  centers  of 
the  old  Greek  world,  on  the  north  and  west  shores  of 
the  "Greek  sea,"  the  ^Egean— Philippi,  Thessalonica, 
Corinth.  Only  the  eastern  shores  of  the  ^Egean,  the 
province  of  Asia  with  its  great  capital,  Ephesus,  re- 
mained to  complete  the  circle.  Paul  was  anxious  to 
return  and  begin  as  soon  as  possible,  if  it  were  the  will 
of  God,  his  work  in  Ephesus. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH  163 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up  Corinth  on  a  large-scale  map  showing  eleva- 

tions (for  example,  Murray's).  Study  Paul's  route 
from  Athens  to  Corinth;  and  from  Corinth  to  Syria, 
via  Cenchreas  and  Ephesus.  Where  is  the  Isthmian 
Canal?  the  Acro-corinthus ?  On  a  map  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  show  the  shipping  routes  that  gave 
Corinth  its  importance. 

2.  Explain  the  importance  of  Corinth  as  a  center  for  the 

spread  of  Christianity. 

3.  Read  the  following  passages  from  the  Epistle  to  the 

Galatians:  i:  i  to  2:  10;  3:  1-9;  23-29;  4:  12-20;  5: 
16-26;  6:  11-18.  What  are  their  main  points?  How 
do  they  bear  on  Paul's  purpose  in  writing  the  Epistle? 

4.  Look  up  the  article  "Gallio"  in  the  Bible  dictionary, 

and  describe  the  stone  found  in  four  pieces  at  Delphi 
which  dates  his  arrival  in  the  province.  If  not  in 
the  Bible  dictionary,  see  Deissmann,  St.  Paul,  Ap- 
pendix II;  or  Robinson,  Life  of  Paul,  p.  138^.;  or 
McNeile,  St.  Paul,  p.  xvff. 

5.  It  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  Paul  that  any 

people,  whatever  their  condition,  were  ** without  the 
pale"  of  salvation.  Corinth  had  a  right  to  the  gospel, 
as  well  as  Jerusalem.  Does  the  principle  still  hold 
good? 

6.  What  do  you  think  of  Paul's  self-restraint  in  writing 

Galatians?  Can  you  think  of  any  similar  situations 
in  which  we  ought  to  follow  his  example? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THREE  YEARS  AT  EPHESUS 

It  was  toward  the  end  of  the  year  51  that  Paul  had 
returned  from  Corinth  to  Syria.  Luke's  account  of  this 
journey  is  very  brief;  it  is  not  found  among  the  "we" 
sections,  and  hence  we  conclude  that  Luke  was  not 
with  Paul  at  this  time.  "When  he  had  landed  at 
C^sarea,"  says  the  Acts,  "he  went  up  and  saluted  the 
church  [in  Caesarea?  or  in  Jerusalem?],  and  went  down 
to  Antioch." 

The  third  missionary  journey. — How  long  he  re- 
mained in  Antioch  is  not  known.  Probably  not  very  long; 
for  after  the  heart-breaking  news  which  drew  forth  from 
him  the  "Epistle  to  the  Galatians/'  he  would  naturally 
be  restless  till  he  could  actually  visit  the  churches  of 
that  region  and  set  in  order  personally  the  affairs  upset 
by  the  "judaizers."  Luke  simply  says,  "And  having 
spent  some  time  there,  he  departed,  and  went  through 
the  region  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  in  order,  establishing 
all  the  disciples."  This  was  the  begiiming  of  the  so- 
called  "third  missionary  journey,"  Paul's  last  and 
longest  tour,  including  three  years  of  preaching  and 
teaching  in  Ephesus,  the  climax  of  his  missionary  labors. 

THE  GOSPEL  IN  EPHESUS 

Ephesus  was  the  capital  and  chief  city  of  the  vastly 
rich  Province  of  Asia.  For  centuries  the  region  had  been 
famous  for  its  wealth  and  culture.  Its  population  was 
large,  its  fertile  valleys  afforded  immense  tillage  and 
pasturage,  while  the  travel  and  commerce  of  east  and 

164 


THREE  YEARS  AT  EPHESUS      165 

west  passed  through  its  western  harbors  and  up  its  river 
roads.  (Read  again  the  words  of  Cicero,  ahready  given 
in  Chapter  XV.) 

Paul's  predecessors. — When  Paul  sailed  for  Syria 
the  year  before,  he  left  Aquila  and  Priscilla  in  Ephesus, 
probably  to  arrange  for  his  own  coming  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  active  Christian  mission  in  that  city.  They 
found  here  a  number  of  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  among  them  a  famous  preacher,  Apollos,  of  Alex- 
andria, who  had  been  "taught  by  word  of  mouth  the 
way  of  the  Lord."  He  was  a  man  "fervent  in  spirit," 
and  he  "spoke  and  taught  carefully  all  he  knew  about 
Jesus,"  though  his  only  baptism  was  that  of  John.  He 
was  preaching  boldly  in  the  synagogue  when  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  heard  him;  after  the  service  they  took  him 
home  with  them,  and  expounded  more  fully  the  "way 
of  God,"  that  is,  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus,  his  resur- 
rection, and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  from  him. 

Soon  after,  Apollos  made  up  his  mind  to  cross  over 
to  Achaia — just  as  Paul  and  others  traveled  about 
preaching  their  message,  so  did  Apollos.  Upon  this  the 
"brethren"  encouraged  him,  and  wrote  to  the  disciples 
in  Corinth  to  receive  him.  The  letter  gave  him  a  valuable 
introduction,  and  his  work  in  Corinth  was  successful 
from  the  start.  He  engaged  in  pubHc  controversy  with 
the  Jews,  and  proved  from  the  Scriptures  that  the 
Messiah  was  indeed  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Paul  arrives. — At  last  Paul,  having  crossed  Asia 
Minor  by  much  the  same  route  which  he  followed  on 
his  second  journey,  but  not  being  "forbidden  by  the 
Holy  Spirit"  this  time  "to  preach  the  word  in  Asia," 
arrived  in  Ephesus.  Almost  the  first  question  he  asked 
of  John  the  Baptist's  disciples  was  this,  "Did  you  receive 
the  Holy  Spirit  when  you  believed?"    This  was,  as  we 


1 66     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

have  seen,  a  most  conspicuous  mark  of  the  disciples  of 
Jesus.  Prophecy,  speaking  with  tongues,  gifts  of  healing 
were  all  marks  of  the  possession  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
John  the  Baptist  had  announced  the  coming  of  the  Spirit 
as  one  of  the  marks  of  the  coming  age,  the  Messianic  era 
or  kingdom  of  God  (Mark  i :  8).  Jesus  also  had  spoken 
of  the  Spirit,  both  as  present  in  his  own  work  (Matthew 
12:  28;  Luke  4:  18)  and  as  the  future  possession  of  his 
disciples  (Acts  1:4-5).  Hence  Paul's  question  was  a 
significant  one. 

They  answered  simply,  "No;  we  have  not  even  heard 
of  the  Holy  Spirit."  Paul  then  inquired,  "What  sort  of 
baptism  did  you  receive?"  And  they  answered,  "John's." 
Then  Paul  reminded  them  of  John's  own  prophecy  of 
the  Coming  One,  which  was  fulfilled  in  Jesus,  and  they 
were  baptized  again,  this  time  "into  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  And  when  Paul  had  laid  his  hands 
upon  them,  as  was  the  custom,  the  Holy  Spirit  "came 
upon  them,  and  they  spoke  with  tongues  and 
prophesied."  The  number  of  these  converts  was  twelve. 
They  now  formed,  together  with  Priscilla  and  Aquila 
and  certain  "brethren"  (who  possibly  like  them  came 
from  elsewhere),  the  nucleus  of  the  Christian  church  in 
Ephesus.  Only  twelve  men — but  it  was  a  significant 
begimiing.  Jesus  himself  had  begun  his  ministry  with 
twelve. 

IN  THE  SCHOOL  OF  TYRANNUS 

A  beautifully  colonnaded  street  ran  a  straight  mile 
from  the  immense  open-air  theater  (whose  ruins  may 
still  be  seen)  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  city  to  the  harbor 
on  the  west.  Down  this  street  persons  sitting  in  the 
theater  could  look,  and  see,  beyond  the  shining  marble 
gateway  of  the  city,  the  ships  lying  at  anchor  in  the 


THREE  YEARS  AT  EPHESUS      167 

harbor  or  sailing  across  the  broad,  blue,  island-sheltered 
bay.  Along  this  magnificent  avenue  were  the  Hbraries, 
the  lecture  halls,  the  shrines,  the  homes  of  the  wealthier 
citizens.  In  one  of  these  halls,  most  likely,  was  the 
lecture-room  of  Tyrannus.  Paul  had  begun,  as  usual, 
by  preaching  in  the  synagogue.  And,  as  usual,  the  Jews 
had  hstened  at  first  with  interest,  but  soon  became 
incensed  and  angry.  So  Paul  left  them  and  began  teach- 
ing daily  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus. 

Paul's  success. — With  such  a  prominent  meeting- 
place,  and  almost  recommended  to  the  people  of  Ephesus 
by  the  owner  of  the  school,  Paul's  preaching  reached  far 
and  wide— until,  in  fact,  as  Luke  says,  "all  who  dwelt 
in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord,  both  Jews  and 
Greeks."  So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  over  Paul  that 
simple-minded  people  treasured  even  such  things  as  his 
handkerchiefs  and  working  aprons,  and  took  them  to 
the  sick,  "and  the  diseases  departed  from  them,  and 
the  evil  spirits  went  out." 

The  sons  of  Sceva. — One  story  told  of  this  time  is 
almost  humorous.  Certain  wandering  charlatans,  who 
professed  to  be  able  to  cast  out  demons  (no  doubt  "for 
a  consideration"),  seeing  Paul's  success  and  influence, 
undertook  to  exorcize  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
They  would  say,  "I  adjure  you  by  the  Jesus  whom  Paul 
preaches."  There  were  seven  brothers,  who  pretended 
to  be  sons  of  a  Jewish  priest  and  who  undertook  to 
exorcize  m  this  manner.  But  the  evil  spirit  (that  is,  the 
poor  sick  man  suffering  from  this  dementia  or  hallucina- 
tion) answered,  "Jesus  I  recognize,  and  Paul  I  recognize; 
but  who  are  you?"  And  with  that  he  leaped  upon  the 
exorcists  with  uncontrollable  fury,  wounding  them  and 
driving  them  out  of  the  house.  When  the  story  became 
known,  no  doubt  many  smiled   at  it;  but  no  doubt 


i68    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

many  more  understood  it  as  proof  of  the  truth  and 
power  of  the  gospel.  At  least,  even  by  this  means  "the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified." 

Burning  the  books. — Seeing  the  success  of  Paul's 
message,  and  the  healings  which  accompanied  his  preach- 
ing, many  who  had  dabbled  in  this  kind  of  "sorcery" 
came,  confessed  their  deeds,  and  were  baptized. 

"And  not  a  few  of  those  who  practiced  magical 
arts  brought  their  books  together,  and  burned  them 
in  public.  And  when  their  cost  was  figured  up,  it 
amounted  to  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver  [$io,ooo]. 
So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  pre- 
vailed."— ^Acts  19: 19-20. 


'great  is  artemis" 


But  not  even  in  Ephesus  was  Paul  to  complete  his 
ministry  in  peace.  Opposition  was  rising  against  him, 
not  from  the  exorcists,  but  from  the  makers  of  tiny 
statuettes  of  the  goddess  Artemis,  whose  shrine  at 
Ephesus  was  world-famous  and  visited  by  multitudes  of 
pilgrims  every  year.  These  statuettes  were  sold  to  the 
pilgrims  for  souvenirs  (or  perhaps  as  charms),  and  the 
business  was  very  lucrative.  The  workmen  engaged  in 
this  craft  started  a  riot,  which  lasted  for  several  hours 
and  ended  in  the  great  theater  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  city.  It  might  have  been  very  serious.  But  the  city- 
clerk  got  the  mob  under  control,  thus  probably  saving 
the  fives  of  Paul  and  several  of  the  "brethren." 

It  began  on  the  very  eve  of  Paul's  departure  for 
Athens.  He  had  been  planning  to  visit  the  churches  in 
Macedonia  and  Achaia  once  more,  then  return  to  Jeru- 
salem and  set  forth  on  another  westward  journey,  this 
time  to  Rome— and  after  that,  to  Spain.    Timothy  and 


THREE  YEARS  AT  EPHESUS      169 

Erastus  (a  new  friend  and  companion:  see  Acts  19:22 
and  Romans  16:23)  had  been  sent  on  before  into 
Macedonia.  Paul  remained  behind  for  a  few  days  be- 
fore following  them.  It  was  then  that  the  riot  took 
place  which  so  gravely  endangered  his  life. 

"A  certain  man  named  Demetrius,  a  silversmith 
who  made  shrines  to  Artemis,  brought  by  this  means 
considerable  profit  to  his  workmen.  So  he  gath- 
ered them  together,  along  with  those  who  belonged 
to  similar  trades,  and  said:  *Men,  you  know  we 
make  our  money  by  this  trade.  And  you  see  and 
hear  that  not  only  here  in  Ephesus  but  ahnost  all 
over  Asia  this  fellow  Paul  has  persuaded  people  into 
thinking  that  these  are  not  gods  which  are  made  by 
hands.  Now  it  is  not  only  possible  that  our  trade 
will  faU  off,  but  the  temple  of  the  great  goddess 
Artemis  will  fall  into  contempt  and  the  goddess  be 
robbed  of  her  glory,  whom  now  not  only  Asia  but 
the  whole  wide  world  adores.' 

"At  this,  the  men  began  to  rage  with  anger  and 
began  shouting,  *Great  is  Artemis  of  the  Ephe- 
sjans!*  Thus  the  city  was  filled  with  confusion. 
Then  they  rushed  with  one  accord  into  the  theater, 
having  seized  Gains  and  Aristarchus,  Macedonians 
who  were  traveling  with  Paul.  (Paul  himself  was 
determmed  to  go  out  among  the  people,  but  the 
disciples  refused  to  let  him  go,  and  certain  of  the 
Asiarchs,  who  were  his  friends,  sent  word  beggmg 
him  not  to  enter  the  theater.)  Some  were  crying 
one  thmg,  sonie  another;  for  the  assembly  was  m 
confusion,  and  the  majority  had  not  the  least  idea 
why  they  were  there. 

"Just  then  the  Jews  undertook  to  present  their 
case  agamst  Paul,  and  put  forward  a  man  named 
Alexander  as  their  spokesman.  Beckoning  with  his 
hand  to  command  silence,  he  began  an  address  to 


170     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  people.  But  when  they  saw  that  he  was  a  Jew, 
they  shouted  all  the  louder,  for  two  whole  hours, 
*Great  is  Artemis  of  the  Ephesiarxs!  Great  is  Ar- 
temis of  the  Ephesians  !* 

"At  last  the  city-clerk  succeeded  in  calming  the 
mob  and  said  to  them:  'Men  of  Ephesus,  who  in  the 
world  is  there  who  doesn't  know  that  the  city  of 
Ephesus  is  Temple- warden  of  the  great  Artemis,  and 
of  her  statue  that  fell  from  heaven?  No  one  ques- 
tions this.  Therefore  you  ought  to  remain  calm  and 
do  nothing  rash.  Instead,  you  have  brought  into 
the  assembly  men  who  are  neither  robbers  of  tem- 
ples nor  guilty  of  blasphemy  against  our  goddess. 
If  Demetrius  and  his  fellow  craftsmen  have  any 
grievance  against  anyone,  the  courts  are  regularly 
convened,  and,  moreover,  there  are  the  proconsuls. 
Other  charges  are  settled  in  the  assembly  of  the 
citizens.  And  the  truth  is,  we  are  ourselves  in  dan- 
ger of  being  charged  with  riot  on  account  of  this 
meeting;  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  which 
can  be  given  for  the  gathering.*  With  these  words 
he  dismissed  the  assembly."— Acts  19:  23-41. 

Thus  ended  three  years  of  patient,  self-sacrificing  toil. 
Usually,  Paul  was  not  permitted  to  stay  in  one  place  so 
long.  Here  his  work  was  ended,  for  the  new  church  had 
been  well  founded  and  could  now  continue  its  growth 
independently;  Paul  could  go  on  his  way.  The  impor- 
tance of  Ephesus  as  a  Christian  center  in  the  next 
generation  and  the  next  century,  in  the  next  five  centuries 
of  the  church's  history,  proves  the  soundness  of  the 
foundations  laid  by  Paul. 

His  work  finished,  Paul  went  on  with  his  plans  just 
as  if  no  riot  had  occurred.  He  was  a  great  enough  man 
to  be  able  to  leave  in  such  circumstances  as  those  de- 
scribed and  yet  show  no  sign  of  defeat.     Calling  the 


THREE  YEARS  AT  EPHESUS      171 

disciples  for  a  few  words  of  counsel  and  farewell,  he  took 
his  leave  and  set  out  for  Macedonia. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Trace  on  the  map  the  route  of  Paul  from  Antioch  to 

Ephesus.  What  familiar  cities  did  he  pass  through? 
Visualize  the  scene,  and  write  down  what  was  his 
probable  purpose  in  visiting  the  churches  of  Galatia. 

2.  Recall   from   Chapter   XVII    Paul's   friendship   with 

Priscilla  and  Aquila.  How  did  they  come  to  be  in 
Ephesus?  What  were  some  of  the  points  on  which 
they  may  have  enlightened  Apollos  ? 

3.  Look  up  "Ephesus"  in  the  encyclopedia  or  in  some 

volume  describing  its  excavation  to-day.  Write  a 
paragraph  in  description  of  the  city. 

4.  Recall  the  appearance  and  preaching  of  John  the  Bap- 

tist from  your  study  of  the  life  of  Christ.  See  Mark 
1:2-8;  Luke  3:  1-20.  What  would  be  the  beHefs 
and  ideas  of  his  followers? 

5.  Look  up  the  article  "Magic"  or  "Divination"  in  the 

encyclopedia  or  Bible  dictionary.  Find  some  ex- 
amples of  the  contents  of  the  "books"  which  were 
burned  at  Ephesus — ^for  example,  in  Robinson's  Life 
of  Paul,  p.  isyf. 

6.  It  may  have  been  difficiilt  for  a  learned  and  successful 

man  like  Apollos  to  have  his  views  criticized  and 
corrected  by  a  tentmaker  and  his  wife;  but  he 
accepted  the  correction  and  thus  discovered  "the 
way  of  God  more  perfectly."  Don't  you  admire  him 
the  more  for  his  humility  and  open-mindedness  ? 
How  should  we  cultivate  this  virtue?  Give  an 
example. 

7.  Early   Christianity   set   men   free   from   superstition. 

Are  there  any  superstitions  observed  by  persons  you 
know?  Have  you  any,  yoiu-self  ?  Are  they  consistent 
with  faith  in  God  as  revealed  in  Christ? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
TWO  IMPORTANT  LETTERS 

How  often  we  wish  it  were  possible  to  visit  one  of 
the  early  Christian  assembhes!  How  we  should  like  to 
listen  to  the  sermon  and  join  in  the  worship!  We  should 
need,  of  course,  to  understand  Greek.  And  we  might 
need  to  be  told  what  was  meant  by  certain  customs 
and  manners  of  the  early  Christians,  some  of  which  they 
shared  with  their  non-Christian  neighbors.  But  such  an 
experience  would  make  real,  once  and  for  all,  what  now 
we  can  only  imagine  and  try  to  visualize  by  the  help  of 
patient,  careful  study. 

There  is  one  way  in  which  the  lives  of  great  men  and 
important  affairs  of  the  past  can  sometimes  be  made 
real — by  means  of  letters.  The  best  biographies  of 
prominent  men  usually  give  their  "Life  and  Letters." 
As  we  read  their  correspondence  we  seem  to  be  in  the 
very  time  and  place  of  the  one  who  wrote  it,  to  see  the 
situation  as  he  saw  it  at  the  moment,  and  to  understand 
his  motives  and  purposes  better.  It  is  fortunate  that  in 
addition  to  Luke's  book  of  Acts  we  have  a  number  of 
letters— chiefly  by  Paul— to  illustrate  and  make  vivid 
the  actual  life  of  the  early  church,  to  show  us  what  the 
first  Christians  beheved  and  thought,  hoped  and  en- 
deavored to  do,  how  they  conducted  themselves  in 
church  and  out  of  church,  and  what  their  leaders  and 
missionaries  taught  them. 

FIRST  AND  SECOND  CORINTHIANS 

In  this  chapter,  we  shall  make  a  special  study  of 
Paul's  First  and  Second  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  try- 

172 


TWO  IMPORTANT  LETTERS      173 

ing  to  find  out  from  them  something  about  the  church 
in  Corinth  to  which  they  were  addressed. 

The  occasion  for  the  letters. — ^Like  Paul's  earlier 
epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  and  the  Galatians,  these 
letters  were  written  because  of  trouble  which  had  broken 
out  after  Paul  left  Corinth.  It  was  a  danger  involved  in 
Paul's  practice  of  founding  a  church,  preaching  a  short 
while  longer,  and  then  pushing  on  to  new  fields:  often 
the  Httle  group  of  Christians  must  have  felt  deserted  and 
alone,  and  when  difficulties  arose  there  was  no  one  at 
hand  to  straighten  them  out.  Paul's  method  was  neces- 
sary, if  he  was  to  preach  to  "all  the  Gentiles"  in  the 
remaining  years  of  his  lifetime.  But  it  was  a  dangerous 
method. 

We  recaU  that  before  Paul  arrived  at  Ephesus,  Apollos 
had  crossed  to  Corinth,  where  he  was  well  received  by 
"the  brethren."  So  well  was  he  received,  indeed,  that 
it  was  not  long  before  certain  members  of  that  church 
professed  a  preference  for  his  preaching  over  that  of 
Paul.  Greeks  were  always  partisans,  and  they  were  also 
seekers  after  "wisdom."  The  briUiant  discourse  and  the 
Alexandrian-trained  Bible  knowledge  of  Apollos  ap- 
pealed most  strongly  to  them. 

Problems  of  the  Corinthian  church. — But  this  was 
only  a  part  of  the  trouble.  Even  earlier,  several  prob- 
lems had  arisen.  One  was  occasioned  by  the  gross  im- 
morahty  of  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  church.  Paul  wrote 
at  once  counseling  the  church  to  exclude  the  offender 
from  their  company  until  he  should  repent.  Other 
problems  arose  in  regard  to  the  eating  of  meat  which 
had  been  offered  to  idols  (that  is,  meat  of  animals  slain 
as  heathen  sacrifices  in  the  temples,  and  then  sold  in 
the  markets  as  food).  Certain  of  the  new  believers — 
especially  those  born  Jews — felt  this  to  be  a  defiling 


174    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

contact  with  the  hated  demons  (so  they  viewed  the 
Greek  gods).  Others— especially  those  born  Gentiles- 
thought  such  an  objection  to  be  silly  and  overscrupulous: 
''An  idol  is  nothing  in  the  world,"  they  said;  "there  is 
no  God  but  one!"  Other  questions  had  to  do  with 
marriage,  with  the  conduct  of  public  worship,  with 
"spiritual  gifts,"  with  the  hope  of  the  resurrection,  with 
Paul's  rights  and  authority  as  an  apostle. 

The  preservation  of  the  letters. — We  know  from 
several  references  in  these  letters  that  they  do  not  repre- 
sent the  whole  of  Paul's  correspondence  with  the  Cor- 
inthian church.  Some  of  the  letters  have  been  lost;  or, 
at  most,  fragments  of  them  have  been  copied  into  the 
second  of  the  two  which  we  find  in  our  New  Testament 
to-day.  For  the  letters,  naturally,  were  preserved  first 
of  all  by  the  church  to  which  they  were  addressed.  If 
the  one  who  had  charge  of  them  was  a  careful  person, 
they  would  be  carefully  preserved.  If  not,  some  letters, 
or  parts  of  letters,  might  easily  be  lost.  Years  afterward, 
when  some  Christian  scholar  or  disciple  of  Paul  tried  to 
gather  together  the  letters  of  his  master,  he  would  fiiid 
at  Corinth  only  those  letters  or  parts  of  letters  which 
had  been  preserved,  handed  down  to  that  time.  If  the 
letters  were  poorly  preserved,  then  there  might  be  whole 
pages  missing  (that  is,  sections  of  papyrus,  containing 
one  or  two  columns  of  writing);  edges  and  ends  might 
be  worn  and  ragged;  loose  pages  glued  together  in  the 
wrong  order;  and  many  words  faded  and  become  il- 
legible. This  is  what  happened  to  many  of  the  early 
Christian  writings,  and  to  some  much  more  than  to 
ethers. 

The  original  correspondence. — Modern  scholars 
have  carefully  studied  these  epistles,  and  a  great  many 
of  them  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  were 


TWO  IMPORTANT  LETTERS  175 

originally  three  or  four — or  even  more — letters  in  this 
correspondence  between  Paul  and  the  Corinthians. 
They  were  probably  written  in  the  following  order: 

1.  A  letter  from  Paul  commanding  the  exclusion  of 
the  immoral  member  (now  found,  partly,  in  2  Corinthians 
6: 14  to  7;  /),  written  from  Ephesus  about  53  or  54  A.  D. 

2.  A  letter  from  the  Corinthians  to  Paul,  asking  about 
certain  questions  relating  to  marriage,  food  offered  to 
idols,  and  so  on.  This  w^as  written  about  54  or  55,  and 
is  now  lost.  At  the  same  time  news  reached  Paul  of  the 
factions  in  the  church,  some  following  Apollos,  others 
Paul,  still  others  Peter.  Hence  he  replied  to  their  letter 
and  at  the  same  time  rebuked  this  party  strife. 

3.  Paul's  letter,  our  First  Corinthians,  written  from 
Ephesus  in  the  spring  of  55.  It  may  be  that  he  made  a 
short  visit  to  Corinth  after  writing  this  letter.  If  so, 
his  visit  was  a  failure. 

4.  A  severe  letter  of  reproof,  written  in  much  sorrow 
and  anguish  of  spirit,  sent  to  Corinth  by  the  hand  of 
Titus,  somewhat  later  in  the  spring  of  55.  This  is  now 
lost — unless  2  Corinthians  10-13  is  a  part  of  it.  This 
letter  had  the  desired  effect.  Titus  returned  with  the 
news  that  the  church  had  submitted  to  Paul,  punished 
the  offender,  and  wished  to  be  reconciled  to  their  absent 
friend. 

5.  A  letter  of  reconciliation,  sent  by  Paul  from 
Macedonia  in  the  summer  of  55.  This  is  our  Second 
Corinthians — except  the  passages  named  in  (i)  and  (4) 
above. 

Read  in  this  order,  the  correspondence  becomes  in- 
telligible, and  we  are  enabled  to  see  not  only  the  tiny 
church  struggling  for  life  in  the  midst  of  dark  surround- 
ings, heathenish,  superstitious,  immoral;  but  also  we 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  majesty  of 


176    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Saint  Paul.  He  could  write  in  utter  anguish  of  spirit, 
as  he  did  once  before  in  "Galatians,"  to  those  who  were 
denying  his  apostleship,  and  crediting  him  with  the 
motives  of  an  impostor,  and  at  the  same  time  break 
forth  into  that  glorious  hymn  in  honor  of  unselfish  love 
which  we  read  in  i  Corinthians  13.  He  could  be  stern 
and  uncomprising  in  reproof,  because  it  was  needed;  at 
the  same  time  he  could  be  gentle  and  patient,  writing 
only  in  hope  of  reconciling  his  alienated  friends.  This 
combination  of  sternness  and  tenderness,  of  severity 
and  love,  reminds  us  of  Paul's — and  our — divine  Master. 
It  is  the  very  spirit  of  Jesus  which  Paul  is  describing  in 
his  enraptured  lines: 

"If  I  *speak  with  tongues' — ^yes,  tongues  of  men 
and  of  angels — and  have  no  love,  I  am  nothing 
more  than  a  ringing  gong  or  a  clanging  cymbal.  If 
I  have  the  gift  of  ^prophecy,'  and  know  all  mysteries 
and  secret  wisdom;  and  if  I  have  such  faith  that  I 
can  remove  mountains,  but  have  no  love,  I  am 
nothing.  If  I  distribute  all  my  goods  to  feed  the 
poor,  yes,  and  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have 
no  love,  it  profits  me  nothing. 

"Love  is  longsuffering,  and  kind;  love  does  not 
envy;  love  does  not  try  to  display  itself,  show  itself 
off;  is  never  rude,  nor  self-seekmg,  nor  irritable, 
nor  resentful;  love  is  never  pleased  when  others  do 
wrong,  but  rejoices  in  the  truth;  love  is  always  for- 
giving, always  believes  the  best  of  others,  always 
hopes,  always  endures. 

"Love  never  fails.  As  for  'prophesying,'  it  will 
disappear;  'tongues'  will  cease;  'knowledge*  will 
pass  away.  For  we  know  only  in  part,  and  we 
prophesy  a  little  at  a  time;  but  when  what  is  per- 
fect arrives,  what  is  partial  shall  pass  away.  When 
I  was  a  child,  I  spoke  and  felt  and  thought  as  a 


TWO  IMPORTANT  LETTERS  177 

child;  now  that  I  am  a  man  I  have  put  away  childish 
things.  At  present  we  see  only  the  dim  reflections  in 
a  mirror,  but  then  it  will  be  face  to  face;  now  I  know 
only  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  understand  perfectly 
just  as  I  have  been  understood  perfectly  all  along 
(by  One  who  knows  the  secrets  of  man's  heart). 
Faith,  hope,  love  remain;  and  the  greatest  of  these 
is  love." — I  Corinthians  13. 

THE  FAITH  AND  WORKS  OF  THE  CHURCH 

When  Paul  spoke  in  this  way  of  love,  he  meant  some- 
thing very  practical.  His  solution  of  the  problems  of 
his  Corinthian  friends  shows  this,  for  in  every  case  he 
applied  the  principle  of  charity.  It  was  not  a  question 
of  rights,  in  most  instances,  so  much  as  a  question  of 
prudence,  of  the  highest  expediency,  seen  in  the  light  of 
brotherly  love. 

The  question  of  meats. — As  the  Corinthian  Chris- 
tians went  to  market,  they  saw  food  for  sale  which  had 
been  offered  in  the  heathen  temples.  At  dinners  one 
might  be  eating  such  food  and  not  know  it.  If  there 
were  any  real  defilement  involved,  the  question  was 
serious,  and  one  should  always  inquire  whether  or  not 
the  supplies  had  come  from  the  temples.  Paul  admits  at 
once  the  right  of  "the  strong  in  faith''  to  eat,  "asking 
no  questions  as  if  the  conscience  were  involved."  But 
at  the  same  time  they  must  bear  in  mind  the  difficulties 
of  "the  weaker  brethren." — The  principle  was  also  true 
of  those  invited  to  banquet  in  the  temples. 

"But  take  heed  lest  by  any  means  this  Uberty  of 
yours  becomes  a  stumblmg-block  to  the  weak.  For 
if  a  man  sees  you  who  have  ^knowledge*  sitting  to 
dine  in  an  idol's  temple,  will  not  his  conscience,  if 
he  is  weak,  be  made  bold  to  eat  thmgs  sacrificed  to 


178    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

idols?  Then  through  your  ^knowledge'  the  weak  one 
is  to  perish,  the  brother  for  whose  sake  Christ  went 
the  length  of  laying  down  his  life?  And  thus,  sin- 
ning against  the  brethren,  and  wounding  their  weak 
consciences,  you  are  going  to  sin  against  Christ? — 
I  tell  you,  if  meat  is  going  to  make  my  brother  to 
stumble,  I  will  not  touch  it  again  forever,  in  order 
not  to  cause  my  brother  to  stumble!" — i  Corin- 
thians 8:9-13. 

The  question  about  spiritual  gifts. — The  same  prin- 
ciple held  true  of  the  ''spiritual  gifts,"  that  is,  the  speak- 
ing with  tongues,  prophecy,  and  interpretation  of 
tongues.  These  apparently  held  a  prominent  place  in 
the  public  worship  of  the  Corinthian  church.  But  Paul 
said:  "Not  what  adds  to  one's  own  prestige,  or  seems 
to  impress  strangers  as  extraordinary  and  marvelous, 
but  what  is  'useful  for  edification'  and  builds  up  the 
faith  and  strengthens  the  wills  of  the  brethren — such 
'speaking  by  the  Spirit'  is  to  be  cultivated." 

"Thank  God,  I  speak  with  tongues  more  than  any 
of  you!  However,  in  the  church  I  would  rather 
speak  five  words  with  my  understanding,  that  I 
might  thereby  instruct  others,  than  ten  thousand 
words  in  a  'tongue.'  " — i  Corinthians  14: 18-19. 

The  question  about  the  Lord's  Supper. — It  seems 
strange  to  us,  but  already  certain  abuses  had  actually 
grown  up  around  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  was  celebrated 
in  the  evening,  or  at  night  (see  Acts  20:11),  just  as 
Jesus  had  observed  the  Passover  the  night  before  he 
suffered.  The  Christians  at  Corinth  could  not  come 
during  the  day — they  were  busy  workmen  and  slaves 
and  the  evening  was  their  only  time  for  "church."  But 
they  had  made  of  the  observance  an  occasion  for  feasting, 
Hke  that  which  took  place  ui  the  heathen  temples.   And 


TWO  IMPORTANT  LETTERS      179 

some  were  hungry  and   others  overfed.     This  roused 
Paul's  feelings  and  he  wrote  them  a  sharp  reproof: 

"What?  Have  you  not  houses  to  eat  and  drink  in? 
Or  do  you  despise  the  church  of  God,  and  put  to 
shame  those  who  are  in  poverty?  .  .  .  When  you 
come  together  to  eat,  brethren,  wait  for  one  an- 
other. And  if  any  man  is  hungry,  let  him  eat  at 
home  (before  he  comes);  in  order  that  your  as- 
sembly may  not  deserve  the  divine  condemnation. 
And  the  rest  I  will  set  in  order  when  I  arrive." — 
I  Corinthians  11:  22,  33-34;  see  the  whole  passage. 

It  is  evident  enough  that  Paul  was  quite  right  when 
he  said  that  the  Christian  ^'calling"  (that  is,  the  member- 
ship of  the  Corinthian  church)  included  ''not  many  wise 
after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble;  but 
God  chose  the  fooHsh  things  of  the  world  that  he  might 
put  to  shame  the  wise;  and  the  weak,  to  shame  the 
strong;  and  the  base  and  despised — that  no  flesh  should 
glory  before  God!"  (i  Corinthians  2:  26-29;  the  state- 
ment was  true  of  many  another  early  Christian  congrega- 
tion). 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Among  peasants  and  fishermen  of  Galilee,  despised  by 
the  learned  priests  and  scribes  from  Jerusalem,  Jesus 
had  wrought  out  his  work  and  planted  the  seed.  Among 
the  lowly,  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  and  poor — and 
morally  weak — Saint  Paul  and  the  other  missionaries 
of  the  gospel  now  spread  the  good  news  of  Jesus  and 
eternal  life,  planted  the  church,  and  started  Christianity 
on  its  long  and  expanding  course  of  development. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

I.  Recall  the  letters  which  Paul  addressed  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians  and  Galatians.    What  were  their  subjects? 


i8o    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

2.  Recall  what  was  said  in  Chapter  XVIII  about  Apollos. 

How  did  he  become  a  Christian?  How  did  he  come 
to  be  in  Corinth? 

3.  Explain  how  the  letters  of  Paul  were  preserved,  and 

show  their  value  for  our  study  of  the  early  church. 
What  happened  when  letters  were  not  carefully 
preserved  ? 

4.  Read  the  following  passages  from  Paul's  correspond- 

ence with  the  Corinthians,  and  note  the  main  sub- 
ject in  each  passage: 

(i)  2  Corinthians  6 :  14  to  7 :  i ;  (2)  i  Corinthians  i : 

1-25;  2:  1-5;  3:  I  to4:  5;  6:  1-8;  10:  23  to  11:  i; 

14:  26-33;  39-40;  (3)  2  Corinthians  7-  5-16. 
$.  Memorize  i  Corinthians  13,  in  the  version  of  the  Au- 
thorized or  Revised  Bible,  after  stud)dng  its  mean- 
ing by  help  of  the  translation  given  above  in  the 
text.  Can  you  think  of  any  teachings  of  Jesus 
which  it  echoes?  See  Matthew  5:43-48,  for  ex- 
ample. 

6.  Luke  does  not  mention  the  trouble  which  arose  in 

Corinth,  as  it  was  not  sufficiently  important;  it  had 
occurred  long  ago,  when  he  wrote,  had  been  soon 
settled,  and  was  now  almost  forgotten.  If  Paul's 
letters  had  been  lost,  we  should  never  have  heard 
about  it.  But  note  how  Paul's  letters  and  the  nar- 
rative of  Acts  fit  together.  See  i  Corinthians  16: 
5-9,  which  was  written  just  before  the  riot  in  Ephe- 
sus  (Acts  19:21-23);  and  2  Corinthians  1:8-11, 
which  was  written  just  afterward. 

7.  Paul's  principle  was  to  avoid  occasions  of  offense  (or 

of  '^stumbling")  on  the  part  of  the  weaker  brethren. 
Does  this  reflect  the  teaching  of  his  Master?  How 
does  it  apply  to  us?  Are  tactfulness  and  covirtesy 
and  forbearance  part  of  a  Christian  character? 
Give  an  example,  if  you  can,  which  you  personally 
know. 


CHAPTER  XX 
IN  JERUSALEM  AGAIN 

Paul  had  planned,  even  before  the  riot  caused  by 
Demetrius,  to  leave  Ephesus  and  visit  once  more  his 
churches  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia.  After  that  he  in- 
tended going  to  Jerusalem,  and  then  on  to  Rome.  One 
reason  for  desiring  to  revisit  Jerusalem  was  no  doubt  to 
see  the  church  there,  and  at  Antioch,  where  he  had 
many  friends.  But  the  chief  reason  was  that  he  intended 
to  take  up  an  offering  from  the  Gentile  churches  and 
give  it  to  "the  poor  among  the  saints  in  Jerusalem." 
There  were  many  poor  in  that  city,  as  we  have  already 
seen.  The  apostles  had  long  before  requested  Paul  to 
remember  them  (Galatians  2:10),  "which  very  thing," 
he  says,  he  "was  also  zealous  to  do." 

Nothing  could  possibly  cement  more  closely  the 
Jewish  and  Gentile  groups  in  the  church  than  such  an 
expression  of  sympathy  and  charity.  And  it  shows 
what  a  great  man  Paul  was,  who  planned  this  act  of 
generosity.  For  we  recall  that  it  was  from  Jerusalem 
that  the  "false  brethren"  went  out  and  tried  to  undo 
his  work  in  Galatia,  as  they  had  done  in  Antioch  and 
Cilicia.  Lately  they  had  even  appeared  at  Corinth, 
starting  a  faction  and  calling  themselves  either  "the 
party  of  Cephas"  (that  is,  Peter),  or  "of  Christ"  (that 
is,  in  contrast  to  Paul).  But  Paul  was  too  big  a  man  to 
give  way  to  motives  of  meanness  and  a  desire  to  "get 
even."  He  would  welcome  such  an  opportunity  to  do 
good,  he  would  not  make  the  poor  brethren  in  Jerusalem 
suffer  for  the  sins  of  their  misguided  fellows.     There 

181 


i82     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

shines  forth  the  true  Christian  spirit,  the  spirit  of  Jesus, 
just  as  really  in  Paul's  act  of  kindness  and  generosity  as 
it  does  in  the  sublime  language  of  the  thirteenth  chapter 
of  First  Corinthians. 

It  was  with  undisguised  eagerness  and  enthusiasm 
that  Paul  wrote,  at  the  end  of  the  letter  we  now  call 
First  Corinthians,  about  his  plans  for  this  reUef  fund : 

"Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints,  as 

1  gave  order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  so  also  do 
ye.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  each  one  of 
you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  he  may  prosper,  that  no 
collections  be  made  when  I  come.  And  when  I 
arrive,  whomsoever  ye  shall  approve  by  letters, 
them  will  I  send  to  carry  your  bounty  to  Jerusalem; 
and  if  it  be  necessary  for  me  to  go  also,  they  shall 
go    with    me." — i    Corinthians    i6: 1-4;    see    also 

2  Corinthians  9. 

A  WINTER  IN  CORINTH 

Immediately  following  these  words  about  the  collec- 
tion, Paul  adds  (addressing  the  disciples  in  Cormth), 
"I  am  coming  to  you,  when  I  have  passed  through 
Macedonia,  .  .  .  and  perhaps  I  may  spend  the  winter 
with  you,  that  you  may  help  me  on  my  way  (in  the 
spring)  whithersoever  I  go." 

Through  Macedonia. — Immediately  after  the  riot  in 
Ephesus,  Paul  set  out  to  fulfill  these  plans.  Passing  up 
along  the  coast  to  Troas  (2  Corinthians  2: 12),  he  found 
here  a  door  of  opportunity  opened  for  preaching  the 
gospel.  But  he  remained  only  a  short  while.  Timothy 
and  Erastus  (and  Titus?)  had  gone  on  before  into 
Macedonia,  and  he  was  trying  to  overtake  them.  Not 
findmg  Titus  at  Troas,  he  says,  "I  had  no  rehef  for  my 
spirit";  and  so  he  hastened  across  to  Macedonia,  prob- 


IN  JERUSALEM  AGAIN  183 

ably  following  the  same  route  as  on  the  second  missionary 
journey.  Here  he  no  doubt  visited  the  Christians  in 
Philippi,  Thessalonica  and  Beroea.  Luke  hastens  over 
this  journey  with  the  words,  ^'When  he  had  gone  through 
those  parts  and  given  them  much  exhortation,  he  came 
into  Greece."  It  may  be  that  it  was  on  this  journey 
that  he  traveled  "even  unto  lUyricum,"  as  he  writes 
shortly  afterward  (Romans  15:19),  spending  the  sum- 
mer and  early  autumn  in  this  tour  of  Macedonia  and 
northern  Greece. 

In  the  house  of  Gaius. — At  last,  as  winter  ap- 
proached, he  arrived  at  Corinth,  and  was  heartily 
welcomed  by  his  now  reconciled  friends.  Gaius,  whom 
he  described  as  "my  host,  and  of  the  whole  church" 
(Romans  16:  23),  took  him  into  his  home,  and  enter- 
tained him  during  his  stay.  Here  he  remained  for  three 
months,  until  spring  arrived  and  travel  was  safe  once 
more  both  by  sea  and  by  land.  It  must  have  been  a 
happy  winter.  All  the  anguish  and  bitter  feeling  of  the 
year  before  was  now  gone.  Generous-spirited  Paul,  we 
can  be  sure,  would  not  even  mention  those  old  troubles 
and  disloyalties.  The  collection  grew  larger  week  by 
week,  and  many  new  disciples  were  added  to  the  church. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Romans. — Here  it  was  that  he 
wrote  the  most  formal  and  theological  of  his  letters,  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Christianity  had  already,  by 
some  means,  reached  the  Imperial  City.  Christians 
traveling  to  Rome,  or  going  there  to  reside,  or  "prophets 
and  teachers"  like  those  at  Antioch,  had  brought  with 
them  the  message  and  started  the  church  in  that  city. 
Paul  had  planned  for  some  time  to  "see  Rome"  and 
preach  the  gospel  there — and  then  in  Spain.  Now, 
instead  of  traveling  westward  down  the  Gulf  of  Corinth 
to  the  western  sea  and  thence  to  Italy,  he  was  going 


i84    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

eastward  to  Jerusalem.  It  might  be  that  he  should 
never  reach  Rome  at  all,  if  opposition  broke  out  in  the 
East.  It  might  be  also,  that  the  ''judaizers"  would  out- 
run him,  and  corrupt  with  their  false  teachmgs  the  faith 
of  the  Christians  in  Rome  before  Paul  could  get  to  them. 
Hence  he  wrote  the  letter  called  To  the  Romans.  It  is 
almost  a  theological  treatise,  dealing  with  the  Mosaic 
Law  and  God's  purpose  in  establishing  it,  the  relation 
of  sin  and  its  consequences  to  the  commandment  given 
by  God,  the  freedom  of  Christians  from  the  condemna- 
tion upon  those  who  failed  to  keep  this  Law,  and  the 
final  salvation  of  the  Jewish  people  in  spite  of  their 
rejection  of  Christ  and  the  gospel.  Such  subjects  were 
very  important  both  to  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Chris- 
tians in  Rome,  whom  Paul  was  anxious  to  visit;  and  he 
wanted  to  reach  them  at  once,  not  waiting  until  he  re- 
turned from  Jerusalem. 

At  the  end  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (Chapter  i6) 
has  been  added  a  small  letter,  or  a  page  from  a  larger 
one,  which  Paul  wrote  about  the  same  time  to  the 
church  in  Ephesus.  It  abounded  in  salutations  and 
greetings,  and  shows  us  what  a  much-loved  and  loving 
man  Paul  was,  how  wide  his  circle  of  friends,  how  deep 
and  intense  his  affection. 

ON  THE  WAY  TO  JERUSALEM 

Paul  was  now  about  ready  to  start  for  Palestine.  He 
intended  to  take  ship  at  Cenchreae,  as  before,  and  either 
cross  to  Ephesus,  if  the  ship  followed  that  route,  or  sail 
directly  for  Syria.  He  was  anxious  to  reach  Jerusalem 
if  possible  before  Pentecost,  when  he  should  present  the 
gift  from  the  Gentile  churches.  But  this  plan  was 
thwarted  by  the  discovery  of  a  plot  among  the  Jews, 
who  were  determined  to  get  rid  of  Paul.    Instead  of 


IN  JERUSALEM  AGAIN  185 

sailing  across  the  JEgea-n,  he  returned  by  land  as  he  had 
come,  through  Macedonia,  then  across  by  sea  to  Troas, 
and  thence  southward. 

Paul's  companions. — In  this  way,  several  men  went 
with  him  from  Macedonia,  commissioned  to  present  the 
gift  of  their  churches  to  the  poor  in  Jerusalem  (like 
those  Paul  expected  from  Corinth:  see  i  Corinthians 
16:3-4).  There  were  Sopater  from  Beroea,  Aristarchus 
and  Secundus  from  Thessalonica,  Luke  himself  from 
Philippi  (Acts  20:  5-6),  Gains  of  Derbe,  and  Timothy. 
All  except  Luke  had  gone  before  to  Troas  when  he  and 
Paul  set  sail  just  after  Passover.  Finding  them  there, 
Paul  went  on  alone  by  foot  to  Assos,  which  lay  thirty 
miles  southeast  on  the  Gulf  of  Adramyttium.  His 
reason  for  this  was  doubtless  the  fact  that  sailing  ships 
were  sometimes  unable,  for  days  at  a  time,  on  account 
of  adverse  winds,  to  round  the  point  of  Lectum  and  pass 
the  straits  north  of  Lesbos.  And  he  was  hastening  on 
to  reach  Jerusalem  before  Pentecost,  now  barely  a  month 
away.  He  even  planned  to  sail  past  Ephesus  and  sent 
word  to  the  elders  of  the  church  to  meet  him  for  a  few 
hours  when  the  ship  stopped  at  Miletus — a  sLxty-mile 
journey  for  the  Ephesians. 

PauPs  charge  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus. — Taking 
ship  again  at  Assos,  they  touched  at  Mitylene  on  the 
east  coast  of  the  island  of  Lesbos.  The  next  day  they 
stood  off  Chios,  the  following  touched  at  Samos — they 
were  coasting  southward  inside  the  fringe  of  islands — 
and  the  next  day  reached  Miletus.  Here  the  elders  of 
the  church  at  Ephesus  met  him,  and  Paul  addressed 
them  in  words  of  tender  farewell.  The  address  is  given, 
of  course,  in  the  words  of  Luke;  but  the  thought  is 
sufficiently  like  that  of  Paul's  epistles  to  guarantee  its 
authenticity.    If  we  had  nothing  else  that  Paul  ever 


i86     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

said,  this  address  would  be  enough  to  mark  him  out  as  a 
noble,  generous,  and  heroic  Christian  soul. 

"You  yourselves  know,  from  the  first  day  that  I 
set  foot  in  Asia,  after  what  manner  I  Hved  with  you 
all  the  time,  serving  the  Lord  with  all  lowliness  of 
mind,  and  with  tears,  and  with  trials  which  befell 
me  by  the  plots  of  the  Jews;  how  that  I  shrank  not 
from  declaring  unto  you  anything  that  was  profxt- 
able,  and  teaching  you  publicly,  and  from  house  to 
house,  testifying  both  to  Jews  and  Greeks  repentance 
toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"And  now,  behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  Spirit  unto 
Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall 
me  there:  save  that  the  Holy  Spirit  testifies  unto 
me  in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  affliction 
await  me.  But  I  hold  not  my  life  of  any  account,  as 
dear  unto  myself,  in  comparison  with  accomplishing 
my  course  and  the  ministry  which  I  received  from 
the  Lord  Jesus,  to  witness  to  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God. 

"And  now,  behold,  I  know  that  you  all,  among 
whom  I  went  about  preaching  the  kingdom,  shall 
see  my  face  no  more.  Wherefore  I  testify  unto  you 
this  day  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men. 
For  I  never  shrank  from  declaring  to  you  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  Take  heed  to  yourselves  and  to  all 
the  flock,  of  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has  made  you 
guardians,  to  feed  the  church  of  the  Lord  which  he 
purchased  with  his  own  blood.  I  know  that  after  I 
am  gone  savage  wolves  will  enter  in  among  you, 
not  sparing  the  flock;  and  from  among  yourselves 
will  come  men  speaking  perverse  things  in  order  to 
lead  away  the  disciples  after  them.  Therefore,  keep 
watch!  Remember  that  for  three  whole  years  I 
ceased  not  to  admonish  every  one  night  and  day 
with  tears! 


IN  JERUSALEM  AGAIN  187 

"And  now  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the 
word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up  and 
to  give  you  the  inheritance  among  all  the  sanctified. 
I  coveted  no  man*s  silver  or  gold  or  apparel.  You 
yourselves  know  that  these  hands  ministered  to  my 
necessities  and  to  those  who  were  with  me.  In 
everything  I  set  you  an  example,  how  to  toil  and 
help  the  needy,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  who  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive.*  "—Acts  20: 18-35. 

When  he  had  finished  speaking  they  knelt  down  and 
joined  in  prayer.  Then  with  many  tears  and  loving 
farewells  they  saw  him  to  his  ship.  Weighing  anchor, 
the  vessel  bore  southward  down  the  coast  until  it  was 
out  of  sight  on  an  ahnost  straight  course  toward  the 
island  of  Cos.  Paul's  words  were  destined  to  be  fulfilled: 
his  Ephesian  friends  were  never  to  see  his  face  again. 

Eastward  bound. — By  short  daily  stages,  their  vessel 
first  reached  Rhodes,  the  great  naval  station  off  the 
southwest  corner  of  Asia  Minor,  then  Patara,  a  harbor 
on  the  mainland.  Here  they  took  passage  on  a  vessel 
bound  for  Phoenicia,  a  straight  voyage  of  four  hundred 
miles.  The  first  stop  was  Tyre,  where  the  ship  tied  up 
for  a  week  and  unloaded  its  freight.  Here  Paul  and  his 
companions  visited  ''the  disciples,"  who  warned  Paul 
not  to  venture  near  Jerusalem.  The  danger  he  faced 
was  greater  than  he  realized.  Undaunted,  however,  they 
passed  on,  and  sailed  to  Ptolemais,  the  port  of  GaHlee, 
and  then  to  Caesarea,  where  they  were  entertained  by 
Philip  the  evangelist,  one  of  the  Seven,  who  had  four 
daughters  who  were  prophetesses.  Here  again  Paul  was 
warned,  this  time  by  the  old  prophet  Agabus,  who  took 
Paul's  girdle  and  bound  it  about  his  own  hands  and 
feet  and  said,  "Thus  saith  the  Holy  Spirit,  'So  shaU  the 


i88    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Jews  of  Jerusalem  bind  the  man  who  owns  this  girdle, 
and  shall  deliver  him  over  to  the  Gentiles.'  '' 

"And  when  we  heard  these  things,"  Luke  says, 
"both  we  and  they  of  that  place  begged  him  not  to  go 
to  Jerusalem.  Then  Paul  answered,  *What  are  you 
doing,  weeping  and  breaking  my  heart? — ^for  I  am 
ready  not  only  to  be  bound  but  also  to  die  at  Jeru- 
salem for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'  And  when 
he  would  not  be  persuaded,  we  ceased,  saying.  The 
will  of  the  Lord  be  done.'  "—Acts  21 :  13-14- 

In  the  Holy  City. — Soon  after,  Paul  set  out  for 
Jerusalem,  accompanied  by  his  companions  from  the 
west  and  now  also  by  certain  disciples  from  Caesarea. 
Among  them  was  Mnason,  an  early  disciple,  with  whom 
they  spent  the  night  somewhere  on  the  way,  and  early 
next  day  they  caught  sight  of  the  city,  gleaming  in  the 
splendor  of  the  spring  sunshine,  the  goal  of  Paul's  long 
journey,  and  soon  to  be  the  scene  of  a  last  great  adven- 
ture which  still  awaited  him. 

He  had  completed  the  longest  of  his  joiurneys.  It  was 
four  years  since  he  last  saw  Syria  and  Palestine.  He 
could  now  look  back  upon  his  missionary  career  as  a 
whole,  as  he  had  written  to  the  Christians  in  Rome: 

"From  Jerusalem,  and  round  about  unto  Illyricum, 
I  have  fully  preached  the  gospel  of  Christ;  making 
it  my  aim  so  to  preach  the  gospel,  not  where  Christ 
was  already  named,  that  I  might  not  build  upon 
another  man's  foundation."— Romans  15: 19-20. 

Cilicia,  Cyprus,  Galatia,  Macedonia,  Achaia,  Asia — 
six  provinces,  the  heart  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  empire 
—were  the  field  of  his  labors  for  Christ.  It  was  the  work 
of  a  lifetime  which  Paul  had  crowded  into  eighteen  busy 
years,  from  the  year  38,  when  he  began  preachmg  m 


IN  JERUSALEM  AGAIN  189 

Cilicia,  to  the  year  56,  when  he  arrived  for  the  last  time 
at  Jerusalem.  Of  these  the  busiest  had  been  the  last 
nine,  since  he  and  Barnabas  set  out  (in  47)  on  the  first 
missionary  journey  from  Antioch  to  Cyprus.  What  a 
wonderful  nine  years  these  had  been!  Through  what 
dangers  had  Paul  passed,  what  sufferings,  discourage- 
ments, difficulties!  Yet  he  triumphed  over  all,  and 
accomplished  so  much,  as  a  simple,  loyal,  devoted  soldier 
of  Christ.  He  was  "ready,"  as  he  said,  "not  to  be  bound 
only,  but  even  to  die  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus," 
if  that  was  God's  will.  He  had  been  "ready"  all  along 
to  do  whatever  came  next  in  his  hfe  of  service.  Such 
unconquerable  faith  and  loyalty  and  obedience  were  the 
secret  of  Paul's  immense  and  successful  work. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  On  a  sketch  or  outline  map  show  Paul's  course  from 

Ephesus  to  Corinth,  then  to  Jerusalem,  as  described 
in  this  chapter.  How  were  his  plans  altered  at 
Corinth? 

2.  Describe  the  "collection  for  the  poor  saints"  and  show 

how  it  proves  Paul's  greatness  and  generosity  o£ 
spirit.  What  does  the  word  ''saints"  mean  in  such  a 
connection? 

3.  Read  the  following  passages  in  the  Epistle  to  the 

Romans,  and  note  their  main  subjects  in  your  note- 
book: i:  1-17;  3:  1-3;  5:  i-ii;  6: 12-14;  7:  7  to 8:  18; 
10: 1-3;  15:14-33. 

4.  Read  the  little  epistle  to  the  church  in  Ephesus  ap- 

pended to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (Romans  16). 
How  many  friends  does  he  mention  in  his  greetings  ? 
Does  this  indicate  in  any  way  the  size  of  the  church 
at  that  time? 

5.  What  were  the  main  poiats  of  Paul's  charge  to  the 

elders  of  Ephesus? 


190     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

6.  Review  the  events  of  Paul's  life  during  his  nine  years 

of  intense  missionary  activity.  Study  the  chrono- 
logical chart  and  go  over  your  maps  of  his  journeys. 

7.  Paul's  "collection"  was  intended,  partly,  to  allay  the 

suspicion  of  his  opponents  in  Jerusalem.  That  was 
a  novel  way  to  meet  underhandedness !  Does  it 
ever  work?  Have  you  seen  anyone  try  conquering 
suspicion  by  generosity?  Name  a  few  instances 
where  it  might  at  least  be  tried.  Then  ask  yourself 
if  you  would  care  to  try  it! 


CHAPTER  XXI 

PAUL'S  ARREST 

Arrived  in  Jerusalem,  Paul  went  at  once  to  "the 
brethren,"  who,  so  Luke  writes  in  the  book  of  Acts, 
"received  us  gladly."  The  following  day  Paul  and  his 
companions  presented  themselves  to  James  (who  was 
head  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem)  and  all  the  elders,  who 
were  present,  apparently,  to  welcome  Paul.  After 
saluting  them  in  the  formal  manner  of  the  Jews  and 
early  Christians,  he  went  over  one  by  one  the  full  details 
of  his  work  in  Asia  Minor  and  Greece,  "the  things  which 
God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles  by  his  ministry." 
When  they  heard  the  wonderful  stories  he  told,  of  the 
conversion  of  men  like  Timothy  and  Gaius  and  Aris- 
tarchus  and  Luke,  of  ApoUos  and  the  twelve  men  at 
Ephesus,  of  the  burning  of  the  books  of  magic,  of  riots 
and  persecutions,  of  his  shipwreck  and  beatings  and 
stonings,  of  the  triumphant  progress  of  the  gospel  in 
spite  of  all  hindrances  and  opposition,  of  the  manifest 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  visions  of  Jesus 
which  he  had  seen — Jesus  still  the  leader  and  helper  of 
his  followers — they  marveled  and  "glorified  God."  It 
was  truly  a  wonderful  story,  when  they  first  heard  it 
from  the  lips  of  Paul  himself,  even  as  it  is  to-day  when 
we  read  it  in  the  book  of  Acts. 

AN  ATTEMPT  AT  CONCILIATION 

Then  in  turn  the  apostles  and  elders  related  to  Paul 
the  growth  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem  and  Palestine, 
"how  many  thousands  there  are  among  the  Jews  who 

191 


192     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

have  believed."  They  were  all,  even  as  Christians,  still 
just  as  zealous  in  keeping  the  Law  of  Moses  as  were  their 
non-Christian  Jewish  neighbors.  And  they  had  heard 
of  Paul,  for  his  fame  had  spread  throughout  the  whole 
Jewish  world;  but  they  were  distressed  when  informed 
that  he  taught  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  to  give  up  the 
Law,  to  ignore  its  rites  and  neglect  its  customs.  This 
of  course  was  untrue.  What  Paul  actually  did  teach 
was  that  Gentiles  might  become  Christians  without 
taking  upon  them  the  burden  of  the  Law.  To  orthodox 
Jews,  on  the  other  hand,  this  meant  that  Gentiles  were 
being  admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  Jewish  re- 
ligion without  having  to  accept  any  of  its  obKgations, 
such  as  circumcision,  sacrifices,  the  tithes,  the  annual 
Temple-tax,  and  the  pilgrimages  to  the  Temple.  And 
so  in  their  jealousy,  and  aroused  by  a  vague  and  exag- 
gerated rumor,  they  spread  the  report  that  Paul  was 
teaching  Jews  to  forsake  the  Law.  This  report,  reaching 
Jerusalem,  greatly  pained  the  Christian  Jews;  for  it 
seemed  to  justify  the  complaint  of  their  orthodox  neigh- 
bors, that  the  followers  of  Jesus  were  lax  in  observing 
the  duties  of  the  old  rehgion. 

The  four  men  under  vows. — "So,"  said  the  elders, 
"they  will  certainly  hear  that  you  are  in  Jerusalem.  Now, 
do  as  we  tell  you,  in  order  to  disarm  suspicion  and 
prove  that  the  rumors  are  unfounded.  There  are  four 
men  here,  disciples,  who  have  been  keeping  a  vow,  and, 
according  to  the  custom,  not  cutting  their  hair  while 
the  vow  lasted.  The  vow  is  fulfilled,  and  they  must  cut 
their  hair  and  offer  the  sacrifices  for  purification  in  the 
Temple.  But  they  are  very  poor,  and  cannot  afford  the 
cost  of  their  offerings.  You  yourself  have  just  fulfilled 
a  vow  (see  Acts  i8:  i8),  but  have  not  yet  offered  your 
sacrifice.    Take  these  men  with  you,  go  to  the  Temple, 


PAUL'S  ARREST  193 

pay  for  them  as  well  as  yourself,  accomplish  your 
purification,  and  thus  prove  these  rumors  false.  You 
will  show  beyond  doubt  that  you  yourself  walk  orderly, 
keeping  the  Law  and  aiding  others  in  keeping  it." 

In  the  Temple. — Now,  it  is  true  Paul's  main  concern 
was  the  freedom  of  the  gospel  (from  the  burden  of  the 
Old-Testament  Law)  among  Gentiles.  With  the  Chris- 
tians among  the  Jews  he  was  not  so  much  concerned — 
out  in  the  Dispersion  they  were  not  able  to  observe  its 
requirements  punctually,  anyway,  on  account  of  their 
distance  from  Jerusalem.  He  had  stated  his  principle 
in  the  letter  to  the  Galatians:  "Neither  circumcision 
availeth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision;  but  a  new  life" 
(Galatians  6: 15).  But  he  was  intensely  anxious  that 
the  church,  both  Jewish  and  Gentile,  should  remain 
united  and  not  split  up  into  warring  factions.  This  was 
one  of  his  purposes  in  taking  up  the  collection  of  money 
for  the  poor  members  of  the  Jerusalem  church.  And  so 
in  order  to  keep  the  peace,  and  to  overcome  the  preju- 
dices of  the  brethren  in  Jerusalem,  he  agreed  to  the 
plan  and  went  next  day  to  the  Temple.  The  rites  of 
purification  were  performed,  and  the  offering  was  pre- 
sented for  each  one  in  the  group,  Paul  and  the  four 
poor  Jewish  brethren. 

The  riot. — Each  day  for  seven  days  Paul  was  to  go 
to  the  Temple  before  his  purification  was  complete.  One 
day  toward  the  end  of  the  week,  as  he  was  in  the  outer 
court,  some  Jews  from  Asia  who  had  seen  him  preaching 
in  Ephesus — and  had  perhaps  shared  in  the  riot  started 
by  Demetrius — recognized  him  and  shouted  out:  "Men 
of  Israel,  help!  This  is  the  one  who  teaches  all  men 
ever5rwhere  to  hate  us  and  our  rehgion  and  Temple. 
Here  he  is!  And  he  has  brought  heathen  Greeks  inside 
the  inner  court,  thus  defiling  it!"    For  there  was  an 


194    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

inscription  just  outside  the  inner  court,  on  the  terrace 
which  led  up  to  it,  reading  as  follows: 

NO  GENTILE  SHALL 
ENTER  THIS  SANCTUARY. 
WHOEVER  DOES  SO 
WILL  BE  RESPONSIBLE 
FOR  HIS  OWN  DEATH 
WHICH  WILL  FOLLOW. 

The  fanatical  Jews  from  Asia,  having  seen  Trophimus, 
one  of  Paul's  friends  from  Ephesus  (see  Acts  20:4), 
with  him  in  the  city,  supposed  that  he  was  one  of  the 
four  men  Paul  had  brought  into  the  sanctuary. 

A  tumult  began  at  once.  Everyone  heard  it  said  that 
this  dastardly  heretic  and  apostate,  not  content  with 
undermining  the  faith  of  his  fellow  Jews  outside  Pales- 
tine, had  actually  come  to  the  city,  and  defiled  the 
Sacred  Place  with  his  heathen  followers!  The  rumor 
spread  like  fire.  The  whole  city  was  stirred.  People 
were  nmning  through  the  streets.  An  angry  crowd 
seized  Paul  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  Temple.  The 
Temple  gates  were  swung  shut,  for  fear  he  should  enter 
again.  Down  the  Temple  hill  and  into  the  city  they 
dragged  him,  probably  planning  to  take  him  outside 
the  city  wall  and  there  stone  him  to  death.  Hearing 
the  riot,  the  Roman  ofi&cer  in  command  of  the  Castle 
of  Antonia,  the  garrison  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
Temple,  rushed  down  with  several  companies  of  sol- 
diers. When  the  Jews  saw  the  soldiers  coming  they 
ceased  beating  Paul.  Then  the  officer  commanded  his 
men  to  biud  Paul  with  two  chains,  manacling  either 
wrist  to  the  wrist  of  a  soldier,  and  demanded  informa- 
tion as  to  who  he  was  and  what  his  crime.  The  crowd 
answered,  some  one  thing,  others  another.    The  oflicer 


PAUL'S  ARREST  I95 

could  not  make  out  the  cause  of  the  disturbance  and 
so  ordered  Paul  led  into  the  castle. 

PAUL  IN  CUSTODY 

Even  as  they  ascended  the  stairs  to  the  castle,  the 
crowd  became  so  violent  Paul  literally  had  to  be  carried 
along  by  the  soldiers.  The  mob  was  howling,  "Away 
with  him!  Away  with  him!" — just  as  it  had  howled 
nearly  thnty  years  before  when  Pilate  tried  to  rescue 
Jesus  from  their  fury. 

PauPs  address. — Nearing  the  castle,  on  the  plat- 
form at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  Paul  spoke  to  the  officer 
and  requested  permission  to  address  him.  The  officer, 
Claudius  Lysias,  supposed  Paul  to  be  some  mad  fanatic, 
perhaps  the  Egyptian  seditionist  who  had  recently 
started  an  uprising  among  the  Zealots;  and  when  Paul 
spoke  to  him  in  Greek  and  asked  permission  to  continue, 
the  officer  was  greatly  astonished.  Then  Paul  continued, 
"I  am  a  Jew,  a  citizen  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia  (no  mean 
city!),  and  I  request  you  to  let  me  speak  to  the  people." 
The  permission  granted,  Paul  turned  and  standing  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs  lifted  his  manacled  hand  to  ask 
for  silence.  When  the  mob  quieted  down  he  began  as 
follows,  speaking  now  in  Aramaic,  "Brethren  and 
fathers,  hear  the  defense  I  am  about  to  make."  At  this, 
hearing  him  speak  in  their  own  Aramaic  tongue,  they 
became  still  more  quiet. 

His  defense  consisted  of  a  straightforward,  manly 
account  of  his  own  past  history,  his  early  zeal  for  the 
Law,  his  persecution  of  the  Christians,  his  conversion, 
his  baptism  and  the  vision  which  sent  him  forth  as  an 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Thus  far  the  audience  remained 
silent.  But  at  the  hated  word  "Gentiles"  they  broke 
out  again,   screaming   and   shouting  and   crying  out: 


196    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

"Away  with  him,  away  with  him!  He  is  not  fit  to  live!" 
Tearing  off  their  garments  and  throwing  dust  in  the 
air,  the  frenzied  mob  seemed  to  be  getting  beyond 
control.  Claudius,  not  knowing  Aramaic,  understood 
this  second  outbreak  as  little  as  the  first,  and  ordered 
Paul  scourged  and  examined.  As  they  were  about  to 
tie  him  up  to  the  whipping-post,  Paul  turned  to  him 
and  asked,  "Is  it  lawful  to  scourge  a  Roman,  uncon- 
demned?"  This  was  the  chief  surprise  of  all  to  the 
officer.  This  man  whom  he  had  rescued  from  a  fanatical 
mob  was  not  only  an  educated  man,  but  a  Roman 
citizen!  He  would  have  to  exercise  great  care  in  handling 
such  a  prisoner! 

Before  the  Sanhedrin. — The  next  day,  the  officer 
invited  the  Sanhedrin  to  meet  and  try  Paul,  since  his 
case  seemed  to  involve  some  technicality  of  Jewish 
religious  custom  with  which  the  Roman  government 
made  it  a  practice  not  to  interfere.  Here  Paul  accom- 
plished a  feat  which  saved  his  Ufe,  one  which  was  worthy 
a  practiced  lawyer,  and  showed  his  shrewd  understand- 
ing of  the  minds  of  men.  That  the  court  would  be 
"packed  against  him"  he  knew  from  the  start.  But 
the  trial  had  barely  begun  when  Paul  exclaimed, 
"Brethren,  I  am  a  Pharisee,  a  son  of  Pharisees;  the 
charge  against  me  concerns  the  hope  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead!" 

The  significance  of  these  words  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  the  Sanhedrin  was  made  up  partly  of  Sadducees 
and  partly  of  Pharisees.  Paul's  words  precipitated  once 
more  the  bitter  and  violent  controversy  which  held  these 
two  schools  wide  apart.  So  great  became  the  clamor 
that  the  officer,  fearing  for  his  prisoner's  Hfe,  commanded 
his  men  to  lead  Paul  once  more  into  the  Castle  of 
Antonia. 


PAUL'S  ARREST  197 

That  night  in  his  cell  the  apostle  had  a  vision.  He 
saw  Jesus  standing  beside  him  and  saying,  "Be  of  good 
cheer;  for  as  thou  hast  testified  concerning  me  at  Jeru- 
salem, so  must  thou  also  bear  witness  at  Rome"  (Acts 
23:  11). 

Paul  sent  to  CaBsarea. — The  next  day  a  conspiracy 
was  formed  among  the  Jews.  Over  forty  of  them  pledged 
neither  to  eat  nor  drink  until  they  had  killed  Paul. 
News  of  the  plot  reached  Paul's  nephew,  a  young  man 
living  in  the  city,  and  he  at  once  went  to  Paul  with  the 
news,  who  in  turn  sent  him  to  the  commandant  of  the 
garrison.  Seeing  the  hopelessness  of  a  fair  trial  in 
Jerusalem,  and  the  increasing  danger  his  prisoner  was 
in,  Claudius  Lysias  called  two  centurions  and  gave 
orders  to  take  Paul  to  the  governor,  Felix,  in  Caesarea. 
Seventy  cavalry,  two  hundred  infantry,  two  hundred 
spearmen  were  to  accompany  him  as  a  guard — the 
regulation  heavy  guard  of  a  high  Roman  military  officer. 
Setting  off  at  once,  they  marched  that  night  as  far  as 
Antipatris.  Since  they  were  now  out  of  the  chief  zone 
of  danger,  the  infantry  and  spearmen  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem while  the  cavalry  pushed  on  rapidly  the  next  day 
to  Caesarea.  Here  they  handed  over  their  prisoner  to 
the  governor,  who  ordered  him  confined  in  the  Herodian 
palace  until  his  accusers  arrived  for  the  trial. 

Less  than  two  weeks  before,  Paul  had  landed  in 
Caesarea  a  free  man,  accompanied  by  his  friends  from 
the  west,  and  set  out  for  Jerusalem,  eager  to  present 
the  gift  he  had  gathered  for  the  poor  of  his  nation !  Now 
he  was  a  prisoner  under  heavy  guard,  bound  with 
chains  to  his  captors  whenever  he  left  his  cell,  unable 
to  reach  his  friends,  awaiting  the  coming  of  his  enemies 
and  accusers,  face  to  face,  it  might  be,  with  death.  As 
for  his  gift,  the  collection  upon  which  he  had  spent  such 


198    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

pains,  over  which  he  had  felt  such  enthusiasm,  so  far 
as  we  know  not  one  word  of  appreciation  or  gratitude 
was  uttered  by  the  "poor  saints"  or  their  leaders  in  Jeru- 
salem. Jesus  had  known  the  ingratitude  of  his  people. 
Now  Paul  too  was  learning  it. 

And  yet,  like  a  ray  of  light  streaming  into  the  dark- 
ness of  his  prison,  there  were  the  words  of  the  vision, 
"Be  of  good  cheer,  Paul;  thou  hast  testified  to  me  at 
Jerusalem,  and  so  shalt  thou  bear  witness  at  Rome!" 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Lookup,  on  the  diagrams  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple 

{The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  facing  pp.  183,  193), 
the  places  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  the  Court  of 
the  Gentiles,  the  Court  of  the  Men  of  Israel,  the 
Castle  of  Antonia,  the  Council  Chamber  of  the 
Sanhedrin.  Draw  a  diagram  and  locate  these  in 
your  notebook. 

2.  Explain  the  plan  of  James  and  the  elders  for  Paul  to 

conciliate  the  Law-observing  Christians  in  Jerusa- 
lem.   Why  was  the  plan  a  dangerous  one? 

3.  Explain  the  truth  or  imtruth  of  the  Jewish  account  of 

Paul's  preaching  and  work  among  the  Gentiles. 

4.  Look  up  the  rites  of  purification  (Numbers  6:  13-21; 

these  were  appointed  for  *'Nazirites,"  but  were 
modified  for  those  who  had  fulfilled  ordinary  vows) ; 
and  see  the  article  "Purification"  in  the  Bible  dic- 
tionary. 

5.  Read  Paul's  defense,  Acts  22:1-21.     What  were  its 

chief  points  ?    How  and  why  was  it  cut  short  ? 

6.  Read  the  account  of  the  conspiracy  in  Acts  23:  12-22. 

Paul's  nephew  is  never  mentioned  again.  He  may 
have  been  a  Christian,  but  probably  was  not — as 
Christians  he  and  his  mother  would  not  have  learned 
of  the  plot.  But  he  was  a  brave  lad,  and  possessed 
some  of  the  courageous  spirit  of  his  heroic  uncle.    It 


PAUL'S  ARREST  199 

took  real  grit  to  go  to  the  captain  and  inform  against 
his  own  people,  the  priests,  and  the  men  vowed  to 
commit  murder. 

7.  Read  Lysias'  letter  to  the  governor  in  dispatching  the 

prisoner  to  him.  Acts  23 :  26-30.  Find  Antipatris  on 
the  map.  Trace  Paul's  journey  under  guard  to 
Caesarea. 

8.  Was   Paul's   generosity   wasted?     Is   it   worth   while 

being  kind  even  to  those  who  do  not  appreciate  it? 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR 

For  two  years  Paul  was  to  remain  a  prisoner  in 
Caesarea.  Instead  of  an  immediate  trial,  which  might 
reasonably  have  been  expected,  ending  either  with  con- 
viction or  acquittal,  he  was  kept  in  prison  during  the 
entire  remaining  term  in  office  of  the  governor  of  the 
province.  No  doubt  the  governor  thought  this  the 
easiest  way  to  insure  the  peace:  if  Paul  were  released, 
the  authorities  might  have  more  trouble  on  their  hands! 

TWO  YEARS   IN   C^SAREA 

Five  days  after  Paul's  hasty  transference  from  the 
Castle  of  Antonia  in  Jerusalem  to  the  Palace  of  Herod 
in  Caesarea,  his  accusers  appeared  before  Felix  and 
brought  their  charges.  Not  only  were  members  of  the 
Sanhedrin  in  the  delegation,  but  even  the  high  priest, 
Ananias — men  who,  according  to  their  own  views, 
should  have  been  ashamed  to  appear  as  litigants  in  a 
Gentile  court.  In  addition,  they  had  engaged  a  pro- 
fessional Roman  lawyer,  Tertullus,  to  plead  their  case. 
No  pains  were  being  spared  to  procure  PauFs  conviction. 

The  first  trial. — Tertullus  began  his  speech  as  soon 
as  Paul  was  called  by  offering  Felix  the  most  abject  and 
unjustifiable  flattery.  "Seeing  that  under  you  we  enjoy 
much  peace" — which  was  untrue — "and  that  by  your 
wisdom  evils  are  being  corrected  in  this  nation" — evils 
were  flourishing,  the  country  was  overrun  with  bandits, 
and  the  nation  was  on  the  verge  of  insurrection! — "we 
accept    your    administration,    Your    Excellency,    with 

200 


THE  APPEAL  TO  C/ESAR  201 

gratitude  on  every  hand."  Having  now  won  the  favor 
of  the  governor  by  this  conscienceless  adulation,  he 
proceeded,  with  a  flourish:  "But,  in  order  not  to  be 
tedious  to  you" — we  may  imagine  how  tedious  his 
words  were  to  FeHx! — *'I  entreat  you  of  your  clemency 
to  hear  us  in  a  few  words.  We  found  this  fellow  a  general 
trouble-maker,  a  mover  of  insurrections  among  the 
Jews  all  over  the  world,  and  a  ringleader  of  the  sect  of 
the  Nazarenes.  Moreover,  he  even  attempted  to  profane 
the  Temple,  but  we  seized  him.  If  you  will  only  examine 
him  for  yourself,  he  will,  we  are  sure,  convict  himself 
of  his  guilt." 

Paul's  defense. — It  was  a  difficult  position  that  Paul 
was  in.  This  scheming,  crafty  group  opposing  him,  with 
a  wily,  unscrupulous  lawyer  as  their  spokesman,  were 
not  going  to  stop  at  half -measures.  The  punishment  for 
insurrection  was  death.  And  by  his  flatteries,  Tertullus 
had  already  won  Felix  over  to  his  side. 

Paul's  answer  was  a  dignified,  honest  statement  of 
facts.  He  began  with  a  tactful  compliment,  but  there 
was  no  flattery  in  his  words. 

"As  I  know  that  you  have  administered  justice 
for  this  nation  through  a  long  course  of  years,  I 
take  courage  in  making  my  defense,  especially  since 
you  can  easily  ascertain  that  it  was  only  twelve 
days  ago  that  I  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship. 
Neither  in  the  Temple  nor  in  the  synagogues  nor  in 
the  city  was  I  found  arguing  with  anyone  or  stirring 
up  a  crowd.  Nor  can  they  prove  the  charges  they 
bring  against  me. 

"I  acknowledge  that  it  is  after  the  way  they  call  a 
heresy  that  I  worship  the  God  of  our  fathers,  be- 
lieving nevertheless  all  that  is  contained  in  the  Law 
or  written  in  the  prophets,  trusting  in  God  that,  as 


202     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

they  foretell,  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the 
just  and  the  unjust.  And  I  constantly  endeavor  for 
this  reason  to  keep  a  clear  conscience  both  toward 
God  and  toward  man. 

"It  was  after  an  interval  of  several  years  that  I 
came  to  bring  alms  to  my  people,  and  to  present 
offerings;  in  the  course  of  which  I  was  found  in  the 
Temple,  not  unpurified,  nor  with  any  crowd,  nor 
startmg  a  tumult.  The  trouble  was  caused  by  cer- 
tain Jews  from  Asia — who  should  be  here  now  to 
bring  charges  before  you,  if  there  is  anything  to  be 
said  against  me.  Failing  their  appearance,  let  these 
men  themselves  say  what  crime  they  found,  when 
I  stood  before  the  Sanhedrin — unless  it  was  simply 
the  statement  I  made  that  *0n  account  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  I  have  been  called  in  question 
to-day.'  " — ^Acts  24: 10-21. 

In  an  impartial  and  unprejudiced  court,  PauFs  case 
would  have  been  continued  until  his  real  accusers 
arrived,  or  dismissed  when  the  charges  aheady  made 
were  not  substantiated.  For  he  simply  challenged  his 
opponents,  or  the  governor,  to  examine  his  record  and 
find  of  what  wrongdoing,  or  insurrection,  he  was  guilty. 
Of  course  none  would  have  been  found;  and,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  no  further  investigation  was  made.  His  real 
accusers,  as  he  said,  had  failed  to  appear.  And  they 
did  not  appear  later. 

A  corrupt  governor. — But  instead  of  freeing  Paul, 
Felix,  who  was  avaricious  and  what  we  to-day  call  a 
"grafter,"  a  taker  of  bribes,  had  caught  eagerly  at  Paul's 
words,  "I  came  to  bring  alms  to  my  people."  Perhaps 
he  could  hold  Paul  until  his  friends  were  willing  to  buy 
his  freedom!  So  he  made  an  excuse  and  said,  "When 
Lysias,  the  commandant,  comes  down  I  will  settle  the 
case."    At  the  same  time  he  ordered  that  Paul  should 


THE  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR  203 

be  given  a  certain  amount  of  freedom  and  his  friends 
allowed  to  visit  him. 

In  this  way  Paul  was  kept  in  custody  for  two  whole 
years.  Occasionally  Felix  sent  for  him  and  asked  him  to 
preach — it  was  a  novelty  to  have  an  educated  preacher 
of  a  new  religion  among  his  prisoners.  Each  time  he 
hoped  Paul  would  offer  him  money  in  exchange  for 
liberty.  But  the  bribe  was  not  forthcoming,  and  Paul 
returned  each  time  to  his  quarters  in  the  guardhouse 
under  the  command  of  a  centurion.  And  often,  no  doubt, 
he  walked  out  on  the  high  parapets  of  the  old  praetorium, 
looking  westward  toward  the  gray-blue  Mediterranean, 
toward  the  sunset,  toward  Rome!  Ships  were  putting 
out  from  the  great  harbor  every  day,  beyond  Herod's 
breakwater,  northward  and  westward  toward  Cilicia, 
Asia,  Galatia,  Greece— and  Rome.  Would  he  ever  see 
Rome,  after  all? 

ON  THE  WAY  TO  ROME 

At  the  end  of  two  years  a  change  of  governors  took 
place  in  Palestine.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  59,  Porcius 
Festus  was  appointed  by  the  Emperor  Nero  to  be  pro- 
curator of  Judaea  and  Samaria.  He  arrived,  no  doubt, 
in  early  summer.  He  was  a  typical  Roman,  strict, 
businessHke,  quick  to  act,  and  not  changing  his  mind 
once  it  was  made  up.  Three  days  after  his  arrival  in 
Caesarea,  he  set  out  to  see  Jerusalem,  the  chief  city  of 
his  province.  While  there  the  chief  priests  and  leading 
citizens  informed  him  against  Paul,  and  asked  him  to 
hold  the  trial  at  once  in  Jerusalem— they  planned  to 
have  Paul  assassinated  on  the  way.  Festus'  answer  was 
brusque:  'Taul  is  a  prisoner  at  Caesarea,  where  I  myself 
am  returning  shortly.  Send  down  your  counsel  and  make 
a  regular  accusation  against  him." 


204    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  second  trial. — The  trial  before  Festus  was  no 
more  satisfactory  than  the  one  before  Felix.  The  charges 
were  serious,  but  not  proved.  Finally  Festus  asked  the 
prisoner,  "Are  you  wiUing  to  go  to  Jerusalem  and  there 
stand  trial?" — he  hoped  in  this  way  to  please  the  Jewish 
authorities,  his  new  subjects.  But  Paul,  perhaps  aware 
of  the  plot  to  assassinate  him,  or  at  least  knowmg  the 
danger  and  uselessness  of  such  a  course,  repKed:  "I  am 
standing  before  Caesar's  judgment  seat,  where  I  ought 
to  be  judged,  as  a  Roman  citizen;  I  have  not  wronged 
the  Jews,  as  you  know  quite  well.  If  I  am  a  criminal 
and  worthy  of  death,  I  do  not  refuse  to  die.  But  if  none 
of  their  charges  is  true,  it  is  against  the  law  to  hand 
me  over  to  them  for  trial.    /  appeal  to  Ccesar.^'' 

The  fateful  words  were  uttered.  This  was  his  right,  as 
a  Roman  citizen,  to  appeal  from  all  lower  and  provincial 
courts  to  the  judgment  of  the  Emperor  himseK.  No 
doubt  he  had  thought  it  over  many  times — this  was  the 
only  way  in  which  he  saw  any  hope  of  reaching  Rome, 
or  even  of  release  from  tedious  imprisonment  under 
governors  more  interested  in  peace  and  their  own 
prosperity  than  in  justice. 

Festus  answered  after  conferring  briefly  with  his  legal 
staff,  "You  have  appealed  to  Caesar;  to  Caesar  you  shall 
go."  Festus  undoubtedly  thought  this  the  best  possible 
riddance  of  a  troublesome  and  vexatious  case ! 

Before  Agrippa. — In  sending  a  prisoner  to  the 
Emperor  it  was  necessary  to  state  the  charges  against 
him.  Festus  was  somewhat  perplexed  to  define  the 
charge,  inasmuch  as  the  Jewish  accusations  were  not 
proved,  and  no  technical  point  at  law  was  involved 
which  a  provincial  governor  could  not  decide.  Likely  as 
not,  the  Emperor  would  think  Festus  a  weak  admin- 
istrator if  he  sent  Paul  to  him  without  clear  charges.  So 


THE  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR  205 

when  King  Agrippa  II  (who  was  king  of  all  that  part  of 
Palestine  not  under  the  Roman  procurator)  came  down 
to  Caesarea  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  new  governor, 
Festus  conferred  with  him  about  the  case.  Paul  was  led 
before  them  and  permitted  to  offer  his  defense  for  the 
third  time — or  perhaps  the  twentieth.  It  consisted  of  a 
clear  narrative  of  his  early  Hfe  as  a  student  in  Jerusalem, 
his  Pharisaic  education,  his  persecution  of  the  Christians, 
his  conversion,  and  his  obedience  to  the  heavenly  vision. 
Though  he  did  not  persuade  Agrippa  or  his  host,  they 
agreed  that  he  had  done  nothing  worthy  of  death  or 
even  of  bonds — "and  might  have  been  set  at  liberty  if 
he  had  not  appealed  to  Caesar!" 

Julius  the  centurion. — At  last  the  day  came  when 
Paul  and  certain  other  prisoners  set  sail  for  Rome,  in 
the  care  of  the  centurion  JuHus  of  the  cohors  augusta. 
With  Paul  were  Luke  and  Aristarchus  of  Thessalonica. 
Their  ship  was  from  Adramyttium  (near  Assos,  on  the 
northwest  coast  of  Asia  Minor)  and  was  probably  home- 
ward boimd  at  the  time.  It  was  to  make  several  stops 
along  the  southern  coast  of  Asia  Minor  and  Julius  there 
could  transfer  his  prisoners  to  some  ship  sailing  for 
Italy. 

The  storm. — Their  first  day's  voyage  brought  them 
to  Sidon,  fifty-five  miles  north  of  Caesarea.  Here  Julius 
gave  Paul  permission  to  go  ashore  and  visit  his  friends.-^ 
From  Sidon  they  headed  for  Myra,  on  the  coast  of 
Lycia  in  southwestern  Asia  Minor,  but  had  to  go  out  of 
their  way  to  the  east  and  north  of  Cyprus  as  "the  wind 
was  contrary."  It  was  ahready  September,  and  after 
October  i  navigation  was  closed  on  the  open  Mediter- 


1  The  Romans  were  usually  lenient  with  prisoners,  since  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  escape  far  and  the  penalties  were  serious.  "Wherever  you  are,"  wrote 
Cicero  to  an  exiled  friend,  "you  are  equally  under  the  power  of  the  conqueror." 


'206    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

ranean.  The  delay  caused  by  going  around  the  lee  of 
C)^rus  was  a  loss  of  precious  time.  Reaching  Myra, 
Julius  found  an  Alexandrian  grain-freighter  sailing  for 
Italy,  and  boarded  it  with  his  prisoners  and  their  guard. 
They  sailed  slowly  westward  for  several  days,  with  an 
adverse  wind,  until  they  stood  off  Cnidus — at  the  end 
of  the  peninsula  jutting  out  from  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  province  of  Asia.  Here,  instead  of  trying  further 
to  tack  against  the  mnd  and  pass  to  the  north  of  Crete, 
they  headed  south-southwest  to  get  under  the  lee  of  the 
island,  which  with  its  high  mountains  and  cape  (Salmone) 
would  break  the  force  of  the  wind.  This  was  dangerous 
— for  they  were  now  on  the  open  side  of  Crete,  and  if 
the  wind  shifted  suddenly  their  heavy  freighter  would 
be  hard  to  manage  in  the  wide,  open  sea  to  the  south 
and  east  of  the  island. 

And  this  is  exactly  what  happened.  Enticed  from 
Fair  Havens,  where  they  first  stopped,  in  the  hope  of 
reaching  the  good  harbor  at  Phoenix  where  they  had 
decided  to  winter,  they  set  out  much  against  Paul's 
counsel  and  advice.  At  first  the  wind  blew  gently  from 
the  south.  Suddenly,  a  strong  northeast  wind — eura- 
quilo,  the  sailors  called  it — broke  upon  them,  and  before 
they  could  swing-to  and  head  north  or  east  and  tack, 
or  directly  northeast  and  ride  out  the  gale,  it  was  too 
late.  To  turn  meant  rolling  in  the  trough  of  the  waves 
and  foundering.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  steer 
into  the  lee  of  Cauda,  an  island  southwest  of  Crete,  and 
there  take  in  the  pinnace  (which  was  used  in  rowing 
ashore  and  as  a  lifeboat),  undergird  the  vessel  with 
cables,  and  trim  the  sails.  At  least  they  could  make  a 
stiff  fight  to  beat  away  from  the  quicksands  of  north 
Africa  (Syrtis).  "Lowering  the  gear"  is  probably 
equivalent  to  our  "reefing  the  sails'' — they  were  pre- 


THE  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR  207 

paring  to  run  before  the  wind  and  head  west  rather 
than  southwest,  if  possible. 

Shipwrecked. — This  they  succeeded  in  doing,  though 
the  storm  increased  in  violence  and  continued,  like 
some  of  our  "equinoctials,''  for  two  weeks.  The  next 
day  after  leaving  Cauda — where  they  found  no  refuge — 
they  began  throwing  overboard  the  freight;  the  third 
day  they  threw  over  the  spare  ship-tackle  and  private 
baggage  of  those  on  board.  Darkness  came  on  and 
continued  for  days.  They  ate  nothing.  Everyone  de- 
spaired of  reaching  safety.  No  one  knew  where  they 
were,  whether  near  Syrtis,  or  Sicily,  or  the  coast  of 
Carthage;  stars  and  sun  had  been  hid  for  days.  Only 
Paul  remained  courageous,  for  he  knew  that  the  words 
of  his  vision  would  be  fulfilled  and  he  would  yet  see 
Rome !  Even  during  the  raging  tempest  he  had  a  vision 
in  which  an  angel  said  to  him,  "Fear  not,  Paul,  thou 
must  stand  before  Caesar.  And  lo!  God  hath  granted 
thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee! " 

About  midnight  on  the  fourteenth  night  of  the  tempest 
they  seemed  to  be  nearing  land.  Dropping  the  lead 
they  found  it  to  be  true;  and  casting  four  anchors  astern, 
they  dragged  until  morning.  At  dawn  they  saw  before 
them  a  small  bay  with  a  sandy  beach,  and  let  go  the 
anchors  and  tried  to  make  it.  Instead,  the  ship  struck 
a  reef  and  was  wrecked.  But  all  on  board  reached  land 
safely,  and  they  found  themselves  on  the  island  of  Malta 
— only  fifty  miles  south  of  Sicily,  on  the  very  road  to 
Rome! 

Rome  at  last. — Here  they  spent  the  winter,  receiv- 
ing kindly  treatment  from  the  islanders,  and  in  the  early 
spring  Julius  and  his  prisoners  set  out  for  Rome.  Taking 
passage  on  another  Alexandrian  vessel,  The  Twin 
Brothers,    they   touched   at    Syracuse,    Rhegium,    and 


2o8    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Puteoli — where  Paul  remained  with  "the  brethren"  for 
a  week.  From  Puteoli  to  Rome  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles.  Christians  from  Rome,  having  heard  that 
Paul  was  on  the  way,  came  as  far  as  the  Market  of  Ap- 
pius  and  the  Three  Taverns  to  meet  him.  They  felt 
they  already  knew  him  through  his  epistle  addressed  to 
them  three  years  before;  they  had  heard  of  his  work  in 
Asia  Minor  and  Greece,  and  were  anxious  to  minister 
to  him  while  he  awaited  his  trial  before  Nero. 

Another  day  and  he  was  in  the  imperial  city,  the  goal 
of  his  dreams  for  years,  won  at  last  through  what  hard- 
ships, dangers,  disasters!  It  was  a  long  way  from 
Caesarea  to  Rome.  It  was  a  still  longer  way  from  Tarsus, 
where  he  was  born;  from  Jerusalem,  where  he  went  to 
school;  from  Damascus,  where  he  was  converted — 
especially  by  the  far-ranging  route  Paul  had  followed, 
over  land  and  sea,  wandering  through  many  countries 
and  cities  and  strange  peoples  in  order  ''to  preach  Christ 
to  the  nations."  At  last  he  was  in  the  capital  of  the 
whole  civilized  world,  and  stood  before  the  throne  of 
the  world-emperor,  Nero  Caesar.  Here  also  he  was  to 
preach,  and  "bear  witness  before  kings." 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Analyze  Paulas  defense  at  his  first  trial.    What  were 

his  argimients  in  reply  to  TertuUus? 

2.  Read  Paul's  defense  before  Agrippa,  Acts  26:2-23. 

What  were  his  main  points? 

3.  Read  Luke's  account  of  the  voyage  and  shipwreck 

(Acts  27).  Trace  the  course  of  the  voyage  on  an 
outline  map,  and  be  able  to  explain  why  it  was  not 
a  direct  course  from  Caesarea  to  Rome,  and  why 
changes  were  made  in  the  route  as  planned. 

4.  During  Paul's  stay  on  Malta  (Acts  28:  i-io)  he  healed 


THE  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR  209 

many  sick  persons,  and  no  doubt  preached  the 
gospel  during  his  three  months  there.  Read  the 
account  in  Acts,  and  note  how  even  Paul's  adver- 
sities "turned  out  to  the  advantage  of  the  gospel." 

5.  Trace  Paul's  route  from  Malta  to  Rome. 

6.  Do  you  think  that  simple,  honest  words  are  preferable 

to  flattery?  Do  people  usually  take  seriously  what 
is  told  them  by  known  flatterers?  What  is  involved 
in  accepting  or  offering  tmdeserved  compliments? 

7.  What  was  the  secret  of  Paul's  courage? — A  vision,  or 

faith  in  God  who  sent  the  vision?  Do  you  remember 
a  similar  incident  in  the  life  of  Jesus?  Can  faith 
give  us  courage,  to-day,  in  facing  dangers?  Give 
an  example. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

PAUL  IN  ROME 

When  they  reached  Rome,  Paul  was  permitted  to 
rent  quarters  outside  the  prison  and  there  await  the 
calling  of  his  trial  before  Nero.  The  trial  could  not  take 
place  until  his  accusers  arrived.  Meanwhile,  he  was  stiU 
a  prisoner,  chained  to  his  guard,  who  was  responsible 
with  his  own  life  for  his  prisoner's  safety  and  security. 

PAUL  PREACHING  AGAIN 

Almost  his  first  act  after  reaching  the  city  and  engag- 
ing his  quarters  was  to  call  together  the  leading  members 
of  the  Jewish  synagogue  and  state  his  case  to  them. 
He  hoped  not  only  to  give  them  a  more  favorable  and 
fairer  opinion  of  himself  but  to  win  at  least  some  of  them 
to  the  faith  and  obedience  of  Christ.  What  wonderful 
hope  and  courage  he  possessed,  after  all  he  had  sujffered 
at  the  hands  of  his  countrymen,  actually  to  attempt  to 
win  those  who  were  in  a  position  to  do  him  much  harm, 
never  despairing  of  his  own  people — trusting  always 
that  in  the  end  "Israel  should  be  saved"! 

Paul  and  the  Jewish  leaders. — When  the  Jewish 
leaders  came,  he  addressed  them  as  follows: 

"Brethren,  although  I  had  done  nothing  against 
the  people  or  the  customs  of  our  fathers,  yet  I  was 
deUvered  a  prisoner  from  Jerusalem  into  the  hands 
of  the  Romans;  who,  when  they  had  examined  me, 
desired  to  set  me  at  Uberty  since  I  was  not  guilty  of 
any  crime.  But  when  the  Jews  spoke  against  it,  I 
was  constrained  to  appeal  unto  Caesar;  not  that  I 

210 


PAUL  IN  ROME  211 

had  anything  to  accuse  my  nation  of.  For  this 
cause  therefore  I  have  asked  you  to  come  and  speak 
with  me;  it  is  on  account  of  the  hope  of  Israel  that 
I  am  bound  with  this  chain."— Acts  28: 17-20. 

Their  reply  was  friendly  and  courteous. 

"We  neither  received  letters  from  Judaea  concern- 
ing you,  nor  did  any  of  the  brethren  come  hither  and 
report  or  speak  any  harm  of  you.  But  we  desire  to 
hear  what  you  think;  for  as  concerning  this  sect, 
it  is  known  to  us  that  everywhere  it  is  spoken 
against." — Acts  28:  21-22. 

Then  they  set  a  day  to  hear  Paul  expound  his  faith,  his 
interpretation  of  the  ''hope  of  Israel"  (that  is,  the  hope 
of  the  Messiah  and  the  kingdom  of  God). 

On  the  day  appointed  a  large  number  of  Jews  gathered 
at  Paul's  lodging,  and  Paul  spoke  to  them  all  day  long, 
from  morning  to  evening,  "testifying  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  persuading  them  concerning  Jesus,  both  from 
the  Law  of  Moses  and  from  the  prophets." 

Paul's  unfailing  optimism  was  once  more  justified. 
Among  those  who  listened  to  him  that  day  there  were 
some  who  beheved  and  became  members  of  the  growing 
church  in  the  city  of  the  Emperor.  But,  just  as  every- 
where else,  some  refused  to  beheve  and  departed,  dis- 
puting among  themselves. 

Preaching  to  Gentiles. — But  Paul's  conscience  was 
now  free.  He  had  spoken  his  message,  as  usual,  ''to  the 
Jews  first."  He  was  now  at  Hberty  to  turn  to  the  Gentiles 
— and  he  told  his  hearers  so  before  they  left  him.  "Be 
it  known  therefore  unto  you  that  this  salvation  of  God 
is  sent  to  the  Gentiles;  they  will  also  hear." 

"And  he  abode  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired 
dweUing,  and  received  all  that  called  upon  him, 


212     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  the 
things  concerning  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all 
boldness,  none  forbidding  him." — ^Acts  28: 30-31. 

With  these  words,  the  book  of  Acts  concludes.  Paul 
continued  teaching  and  preaching  to  all  who  would 
come  and  listen.  In  one  of  his  later  letters  he  sends  the 
greetings  of  some  of  the  Roman  Christians  to  the  church 
he  is  addressing,  and  says,  "They  of  Caesar's  household 
salute  you''  (Philippians  4:22):  even  slaves  of  the 
Emperor's  own  palace  were  numbered  among  the  Chris- 
tians. In  another  letter  he  names  some  of  his  Gentile 
friends  in  Rome — Eubulus,  Pudens,  Linus,  Claudia 
(2  Timothy  4:21).  A  little  later  we  find  a  large  and 
powerful  church  in  Rome,  with  numerous  bishops  and 
deacons  and  teachers.  Before  the  century  was  over,  the 
Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,  and  perhaps  also 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  had 
been  written  in  this  city.  In  later  times  the  Roman 
Church  became  the  leading  church  in  western  Europe, 
and  all  through  the  Dark  Ages  it  stood  like  a  hghthouse 
in  the  blackness  of  the  night.  Though  we  know  nothing 
of  its  origin — it  had  been  founded  before  Paul  arrived 
in  the  year  59 — there  is  Httle  doubt  that  the  preaching 
of  Paul  in  his  "own  rented  house"  on  one  of  the  side 
streets  near  the  prison  greatly  aided  its  early  growth 
and  partly  explains  its  later  expansion  and  importance. 
Imprisonment  did  not  discourage  Paul;  a  prisoner's 
chain  could  not  prevent  his  preaching  the  gospel.  "The 
word  of  God  is  not  bound,"  as  he  said. 

THE  IMPRISONMENT  LETTERS 

Nor  did  his  imprisonment  prevent  his  communication 
with  the  churches  which  he  had  founded.    Luke,  Aris- 


PAUL  IN  ROME  213 

tarchus,  Timothy,  Tychicus,  and  others  were  with  him 
in  Rome.  Messengers  came  and  went  between  Paul  and 
his  friends  in  Asia  and  Macedonia  and  Greece.  Letters 
were  exchanged.  Gifts  were  sent  Paul  to  pay  his  expenses 
and  provide  some  comforts  while  he  awaited  his  trial. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians. — Some  of  the  letters 
have  survived  and  come  down  to  us  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. One  of  them  is  the  Epistle  to  the  Christians  in 
Philippi.  It  was  written  to  thank  his  friends  for  a  gift 
of  money — their  fourth  gift  of  this  sort — which  had  been 
sent  by  the  hand  of  Epaphroditus.  He  had  intended  to 
stay  in  Rome  and  be  of  what  service  he  could  to  Paul, 
but  fell  sick  and  had  to  go  home.  With  him  he  took 
PauFs  letter  as  an  expression  of  the  apostle's  apprecia- 
tion and  thanks  for  their  generosity.  It  is  one  of  the 
tenderest  messages  we  find  among  PauFs  letters,  and 
reveals  that  gentleness  and  humility  which,  for  all  the 
sternness  and  severity  of  his  preaching,  won  the  deep, 
lasting  affection  of  his  friends. 

"I  thank  my  God  whenever  I  think  of  you,  always 
making  my  supplication  with  joy,  for  your  fellowsWp 
in  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  from  the  first  day 
until  now;  being  confident  of  tiiis  very  thing,  that  he 
who  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until 
the  day  of  Jesus  Christ:  even  as  it  is  right  for  me 
to  be  thus  minded  on  behalf  of  you  all,  because  I 
have  you  in  my  heart;  inasmuch  as,  both  in  my 
bonds  and  in  the  defense  and  confirmation  of  the 
gospel,  you  all  are  partakers  with  me  of  grace.  For 
God  is  my  witness,  how  I  long  after  you  all  in  the 
tender  mercies  of  Christ  Jesus.  And  this  I  pray, 
that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  in 
knowledge  and  all  discernment;  so  that  you  may 
approve  the  things  that  are  excellent;  that  ye  may 
be  sincere  and  void  of  offense  unto  the  day  of  Christ; 


214    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

being  filled  with  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  which 
are  through  Jesus  Christ,  unto  the  glory  and  praise 
of  God.  .  .  . 

"For  to  me  to  Uve  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain.  But 
if  to  Uve  in  the  flesh — if  this  is  the  fruit  of  my  work, 
then  what  I  shall  choose  I  know  not.  But  I  am  in  a 
strait  betwixt  the  two,  having  the  desire  to  depart 
and  be  with  Christ — which  is  very  far  better:  yet 
to  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  for  your  sake." 
— Philippians  1:3-11;  21-24. 

"Have  this  mind  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  being  in  the  form  of  God  counted  it  not 
a  prize  to  be  on  an  equality  with  God,  but  emptied 
himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men ;  and  being  found  in  fashion 
as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  becoming  obedient 
even  unto  death — the  death  of  the  cross.  Where- 
fore also  God  highly  exalted  him  and  gave  unto 
him  the  name  which  is  above  every  name;  that  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things 
in  heaven  and  things  on  earth  and  things  under  the 
earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 
— Philippians  2:  5-11. 

"Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things  are  true, 
whatsoever  things  are  honorable,  whatsoever  things 
are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever 
things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good 
report;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any 
praise,  think  of  these  things.  The  things  which  you 
learned  and  received  and  heard  and  saw  in  me, 
these  things  do;  and  the  God  of  peace  shall  be  with 
you." — Philippians  4:  8-9. 

No  other  letter  of  Paul's,  except  the  brief  note  ad- 
dressed to  Philemon,  conveys  so  much  of  its  author's 
inner  feeling,  personal  faith,  profound  conviction. 


PAUL  IN  ROME  215 

The  letter  to  Philemon. — Philemon  was  a  wealthy 
man  living  in  Colossae,  a  hundred  miles  east  of  Ephesus 
on  the  main  highway.  He  was  a  Christian.  The  church 
had  recently  been  founded  in  Colossae  by  some  of  Paul's 
fellow  workers  during  the  three  years  he  spent  at 
Ephesus,  and  was  still  meeting  in  Philemon's  own  house. 
Philemon  had  a  slave,  Onesimus,  who  had  run  away 
and  gone  to  Rome.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  had 
come  in  contact  with  Paul,  heard  his  preaching,  and  been 
converted.  Paul  was  now  sending  him  back  to  his 
master.  It  would  be  Philemon's  right  to  punish  Onesimus 
severely  for  running  away.  But  Paul  writes  to  urge  him 
to  deal  gently  with  the  lad,  whom  he  calls  ''my  child, 
born  in  my  imprisonment." 

"Although  I  have  no  hesitancy,  in  Christ,  to  en- 
join you  to  do  what  is  right,  yet  because  of  my 
affection  for  you  I  rather  beseech  it,  being  such  a 
one  as  Paul  the  aged,  and  now  also  a  prisoner  of 
Christ  Jesus:  I  beseech  you  for  my  child,  whom  I 
have  begotten  in  my  bonds,  Onesimus,  who  was 
heretofore  unprofitable  to  you,  but  now  is  profitable 
not  only  to  you  but  to  me.  I  have  sent  him  back  to 
you  in  his  own  person,  that  is,  my  very  heart.  For 
I  would  much  rather  have  kept  hun  here  with  me, 
that  as  your  slave  he  might  be  doing  service  to  me, 
your  friend.  But,  of  course,  I  could  not  do  that 
without  consulting  you,  in  order  that  such  a  kind- 
ness might  be  voluntary  and  not  forced  from  you." — 
Philemon  8-14. 

We  may  be  sure  that  Philemon,  receiving  such  a 
message,  welcomed  back  his  young  slave  and  indeed 
treated  him  "as  a  brother."  It  is  to  be  noticed  that 
Paul  expects  (verse  22)  soon  to  be  released,  after  which 
he  will  visit  Philemon  at  his  home  in  Colossae. 


2i6    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  Epistles  to  the  Colossians  and  Ephesians. — 

At  the  same  time  Paul  took  the  opportunity  of  Onesimus' 
return  to  send  letters  to  the  churches  in  Colossae  and 
Ephesus — through  which  the  young  man  would  pass  on 
his  way  home.  Epaphras,  "a  faithful  minister"  in  the 
church  at  Colossae,  had  come  to  Rome  bringing  Paul 
news  of  a  dangerous  kind  of  speculation  which  had 
sprung  up  among  the  Christians  there,  beliefs  which 
made  much  of  honoring  angels  and  observing  Jewish 
festivals,  and  which  looked  upon  Christ  as  only  one 
among  several  "manifestations"  of  God.  Paul  writes  to 
correct  these  false  beliefs,  and  sends  the  letter  by 
Tychicus,  who  probably  took  Onesimus  along  with  him 
and  was  also,  like  Epaphras,  "a  faithful  minister  and 
fellow  servant  in  the  Lord,"  and  had  authority  to  speak 
for  Paul  to  the  Colossian  Christians. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  very  similar  to  that 
to  the  Colossians,  as  is  quite  natural  if  they  were  written 
at  the  same  time  and  about  similar  subjects.  It  deals 
with  deep  theological  questions  and  with  the  profound 
"mysteries"  of  the  faith — the  "incarnation,"  or  appear- 
ance of  the  Son  of  God  in  human  flesh,  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  "sealing"  of  those  who  are  saved,  the 
church  as  Christ's  "Body"  on  earth,  the  "reconciliation" 
effected  by  Christ  upon  the  cross,  the  unity  of  the 
church  made  up  of  both  Jewish  and  non- Jewish  Chris- 
tians. 

And  it  contains  very  practical  directions  as  well, 
such  as  the  following: 

"Wherefore,  putting  away  falsehood,  let  everyone 
speak  the  truth  with  his  neighbor;  for  we  are  mem- 
bers one  of  another.  .  .  .  Let  him  that  stole  steal 
no  more,  but  rather  let  him  labor,  working  with  his 
hands  at  some  good  task,  that  he  may  have  some- 


PAUL  IN  ROME  217 

thing  to  give  the  needy.  Let  no  corrupt  speech 
proceed  out  of  your  mouth,  but  such  as  is  good  for 
edifying  those  in  need  of  it,  that  it  may  bring  grace 
to  the  hearers.  And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God,  by  whom  you  were  sealed  unto  the  day  of 
redemption.  Let  all  bitterness  and  wrath  and  angry 
temper  and  petulance  and  bitter  speaking  be  put 
away  from  you,  with  all  malice :  and  be  kind  one  to 
another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  each  other,  even 
as  God  in  Christ  forgave  you."— Ephesians  4:  25-32. 

Other  Epistles. — If  Paul  wrote  any  other  epistles  at 
this  time,  they  have  perished — they  were  either  not 
saved  by  those  who  read  them  or  were  lost  later  on  in 
the  course  of  time.  The  two  letters  to  Timothy  and 
one  to  Titus  are  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Paul 
after  his  "release,"  and  before  he  was  imprisoned 
in  Rome  for  the  second  time.  But  the  tradition  regard- 
ing Paul's  "release"  is  very  vague,  and  the  style  and 
language  of  these  epistles,  in  the  form  in  which  we 
have  them  to-day,  are  not  quite  the  style  and  language 
of  his  earlier  letters. 

"l  HAVE  FOUGHT  THE  GOOD  FIGHT" 

How  long  Paul  was  kept  waiting  for  his  trial  before 
Nero  we  do  not  know.  Luke's  statement  that  he  re- 
mained "two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  dwelling" 
brings  us  to  the  year  61.  The  traditional  view  which 
represents  him  as  released  in  61  (on  account  of  the 
failure  of  his  enemies  to  appear  and  accuse  him?)  as- 
sumes that  he  afterward  visited  Spain,  as  he  planned, 
and  also  the  east— Asia,  Macedonia,  Greece— and  was 
arrested  finally  at  Nicopolis  (for  what  reason  the  tradi- 
tion is  silent),  taken  to  Rome,  and  beheaded  during 


2i8     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Nero's  persecution  of  the  Christians  in  64.^  We  do  not 
know  whether  or  not  this  tradition  is  true. 

Paul's  spirit. — But  at  least  we  are  sure  that  Paul 
must  have  died  as  he  had  lived — ever  ready,  if  need 
arose,  to  offer  his  last  testimony  to  his  Lord,  and  offer 
the  "supreme  sacrifice"  of  loyalty  and  obedience.  The 
words  of  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  are  perfectly 
true  of  Paul's  spirit: 

"I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  the 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  tome  at  that 
day;  and  not  only  to  me,  but  also  to  all  them  that 
have  loved  his  appearing." — 2  Timothy  4:  7-8. 

If  there  was  any  man  in  the  world  at  that  time  who 
could  honestly  say  those  words,  it  was  Paul  of  Tarsus, 
chained  to  a  guard  in  his  house  at  Rome. 

Paul's  achievement. — Next  to  our  Lord,  Paul  is  the 
greatest  figure  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  His 
writings  and  his  achievements  fill  half  of  the  New 
Testament.  He  was  the  greatest  Christian  missionary. 
Almost  unaided  he  led  the  fight  for  the  freedom  of  the 
gospel,  and  released  Christianity  to  become  the  world- 
religion  rather  than  a  Jewish  sect.  His  clear  insight 
into  the  fundamental  principles  of  Jesus'  teaching,  his 
courage  of  conviction,  his  utterly  unselfish  sacrifice  of 
his  own  comfort,  ambitions,  and  earthly  happiness,  his 
"obedience  to  the  heavenly  vision"  and  to  the  voice  of 
Jesus  speaking  to  him  through  the  Spirit  often  and 
again  in  his  career,  through  disappointments  and  de- 
feats,  successes  and   triumphs,   in  persecution  and  in 

1  The  apostle  Peter  is  said  to  have  been  martyred  at  the  same  time,  crucified 
head  downward,  as  he  was  tmworthy,  he  said,  to  die  in  the  same  posture  as  his 
Lord. 


PAUL  IN  ROME  219 

peace — this  is  what  led  him  finally  to  victory.  All 
European  history,  from  the  end  of  the  first  century  to 
the  present  day,  has  been  different  because  Paul  of 
Tarsus  was  born  and  became  a  Christian. 

He  was  a  man  of  prodigious  energy  and  zeal,  an 
indefatigable  worker,  stern  and  uncompromising  in 
facing  wrong,  a  hater  of  lies  and  half-truths,  a  powerful 
opponent  of  sins  of  the  flesh  and  of  those  of  the  heart 
and  mind  as  well;  yet  tender  and  generous,  loving  and 
gentle  toward  those,  to  win  whom  for  Christ  he  gave 
up  everything  in  the  world.  He  was  a  man  in  whose 
life  the  spirit  of  Jesus  was  manifest,  in  spite  of  all 
hindrances  and  limitations  and  the  defects  of  a  thor- 
oughly human  character.  He  is  one  of  whom  we  cannot 
read  without  admiration  and  gratitude  for  his  lifework 
in  spreading  the  Christian  religion  among  the  Gentiles. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Read  Colossians  i:  1-23;  2: 1-23;  4:  7-18;  and  Ephe- 

sians  i:  1-14;  3:  1-2 1;  4:  1-7;  6:  10-24.  Stimmarize 
the  main  points  in  your  notebook. 

2.  Read  the  whole  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  and  the 

Epistle  to  Philemon.  Make  a  list,  from  these  epis- 
tles, of  Paul's  companions  in  Rome.  Write  a  brief 
description  of  Paul's  character  as  revealed  in  these 
two  letters. 

3.  Review  Paul's  life  and  missionary  career.     Write  a 

sketch  of  five  hundred  words  briefly  simmiarizing  it. 

4.  Draw  a  map  showing  the  expansion  of  early  Chris- 

tianity up  to  the  death  of  Paiil,  as  far  as  we  know  it 
from  the  New  Testament.  Color  in  red  the  cities 
and  regions  noted  on  the  earlier  map  (Chapter  XI) 
and  in  blue  those  evangelized  later.  Paul's  journeys 
may  be  shown  by  dotted  lines. 

5.  Paul  was  an  imf ailing  optimist — not  with  the  "chronic 


220    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

optimism,"  however,  of  mere  good  spirits  (for  once 
there  was  a  time  when  he  had  been  fuU  of  despair, 
that  is,  before  his  conversion).  His  hopeftdness  was 
a  part  of  his  reHgion.  Do  you  think  this  ought  to 
be  a  part  of  every  Christian's  religion?    Why? 

6.  Write  in  your  notebook  a  sketch  of  Paul's  character, 

telling  what  interests  or  impresses  you  most  about 
him.  Are  these  characteristics  which  you  would  like 
to  imitate  in  your  own  life? 

7.  Choose  the  passage  you  like  best  in  Paul's  Epistles, 

and  memorize  it. 


PART  THREE 
THE  CHURCH  AFTER  PAUL 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  NERO 

The  persecution  of  the  Christians  in  Rome  under 
Nero  was  a  signal  for  persecution  elsewhere.  Hereto- 
fore, as  we  have  seen,  the  government  more  than  once, 
through  the  provincial  officials,  shielded  the  Christians 
from  the  onslaughts  of  their  Jewish  opponents  or  the 
violence  of  popular  fanaticism.  The  early  Christians 
were  among  the  most  loyal  subjects  of  the  empire. 
Their  attitude  is  well  expressed  in  the  epistle,  written 
probably  some  time  later,  known  as  First  Peter: 

"Be  subject  to  every  constituted  authority  for  the 
Lord's  sake;  whether  it  be  to  the  emperor,  as  su- 
preme, or  to  governors,  as  appointed  by  him  for  the 
punishment  of  evildoers  and  the  honoring  of  them 
that  do  well.  .  .  .  Honor  all  men.  Love  the  brother- 
hood. Fear  God.  Honor  the  king." — i  Peter  2: 
13-17. 

Prayers  were  offered  in  Christian  worship  for  the 
emperor's  safety  and  the  security  of  the  empire.  But  all 
of  a  sudden,  the  "powers  that  be"  were  turned  against  the 
church,  and  henceforth  the  disciples  of  Christ  are  made 
to  realize  that  every  one  of  them  may  at  any  time  be 
called  upon  to  bear  witness  "even  unto  blood." 

We  have  no  account  of  the  persecution  in  the  New 
Testament,  for  Luke's  second  volume,  the  book  of  Acts, 
closes  with  the  year  61.  Nevertheless,  it  contains  some 
letters  and  an  old  Christian  prophecy  which  in  an 
interesting  way  throw  light  upon  Christian  thought  and 

22^ 


224    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

feeling  at  the  time.    These  we  shall  examine  in  this 
chapter. 

AFFAIRS  AT  ROME  UNDER  NERO 

Nero  was  made  emperor  in  the  year  54,  thanks  to  the 
intrigue  of  his  mother  Agrippina.  For  five  years  more  he 
remained  under  the  influence  of  his  old  teacher,  the 
philosopher  Seneca,  and  ruled  wisely  and  well.  But 
when  Seneca  was  innocently  banished  in  59,  Nero  cast 
aside  aU  restraints  and  flung  himself  into  a  career  of 
cruelty  and  vice. 

Nero's  crimes. — ^Throughout  later  history,  Nero^s 
name  has  been  associated  with  the  worst  tyranny, 
brutality,  and  sensuality  in  a  sovereign.  Forsaking  his 
duties  as  head  of  the  empire,  he  toured  the  cities  of 
Greece  as  a  musical  composer,  dancer,  and  charioteer, 
competing  for  prizes  on  the  stage  and  in  the  arena. 
Naturally,  the  court  at  home  soon  split  into  factions, 
each  endeavoring  to  rule  by  intrigue  and  threats.  Nero, 
growing  more  and  more  suspicious  and  autocratic, 
ordered  the  assassination  of  one  after  another  of  the 
prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  the  imperial  city. 
This  included  his  old  master,  Seneca;  his  stepbrother, 
the  son  of  the  Emperor  Claudius;  his  wife,  and  even, 
finally,  his  own  motiier,  Agrippina.  As  a  result  of  these 
and  other  of  his  crimes,  the  city  seethed  with  secret 
rebellion,  destined  to  lead  in  68  to  his  own  death. 

The  great  fire  in  Rome. — Meanwhile,  in  64,  a  vast 
fire  broke  out  in  Rome,  lasting  for  more  than  a  week 
and  not  dying  down  until  it  had  consiuned  a  large  part 
of  the  city.  The  palace  of  Augustus  on  the  Palatine 
hill  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  the  old-fashioned  wooden 
buildings  around  the  circus  maximus,  and  thousands  of 
citizens'   homes  were   burned.     So   bitterly  was  Nero 


CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE  DAYS   OF   NERO    225 

hated  that  at  once  rumor  described  the  Emperor  himself 
starting  the  fire  and  watching  the  city  burn  while  a 
musical  performance  of  his  own  depicted  the  conflagra- 
tion of  Troy.  The  story  of  "Nero  fiddling  while  Rome 
burned"  may  be  untrue  to  fact,  but  it  shows  how  in- 
tensely he  was  disliked.  The  Romans  at  least  believed 
him  capable  of  such  a  crime. 

The  Christians  accused. — Anxious  to  clear  himself 
of  blame,  Nero  helped  to  circulate  another  rumor  which 
charged  the  Christians  with  starting  the  fire.  There 
must  have  been  a  great  many  Christians  in  the  city  by 
that  time  for  such  a  story  to  spread  and  gain  credence — 
the  populace  at  least  knew  that  some  such  strange  and 
suspected  sect  existed !  The  fanatical  and  now  homeless 
mob  demanded  vengeance  upon  those  guilty  of  firing 
the  city,  and  so  Nero  ordered  large  numbers  of  the 
Christians  put  to  death  with  horrible  tortures.  The 
Roman  historian  Tacitus  describes  (Annals  15:44)  in 
gruesome  detail  the  torments  of  the  martyrs,  who  were 
dressed  in  the  skins  of  wild  animals  and  attacked  by 
wild  and  hungry  dogs,  or  dipped  in  tar  and  nailed  to 
crosses  where  they  were  lighted  as  torches  at  night.  It 
was  at  this  time,  perhaps,  that  the  apostles  Peter  and 
Paul  were  put  to  death — Paul  beheaded  and  Peter 
crucified  head  downward. 

THE  PERSECUTION  IN  ASIA  MINOR 

The  signal  had  been  given  at  Rome.  It  was  evidently 
safe  now  to  put  Christians  to  death.  The  old  fires  of 
jealousy,  suspicion,  fanatical  hatred  flamed  forth,  and 
in  widely  sundered  regions  Christians  paid  the  penalty 
for  believing  in  Christ  and  looking  for  the  coming  of  his 
kingdom.  Adherents  of  the  Jewish  and  other  rival 
religious  systems,  poHtical  enemies,   the  superstitious 


226    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

and  bigoted  rabble  who  opposed  any  innovation  and 
disliked  "foreigners"  and  "foreign  gods"  on  principle, 
selfish  artisans,  like  Demetrius,  who  found  that  Chris- 
tianity interfered  with  their  trade— all  these  were  wait- 
ing their  chance  to  attack  the  followers  of  Christ.  At 
last  their  time  had  come!  Though  the  persecution  was 
not  authorized  by  the  imperial  government,  and  was  not 
directed  against  the  Christians  as  such  (that  is,  because 
they  were  believers  in  Christ),  yet  its  results  were  almost 
as  serious  in  some  places  as  if  it  had  begun  with  an  edict 
from  the  Emperor. 

The  Book  of  Revelation. — Naturally,  the  persecu- 
tion was  most  severe  in  places  where  Christianity  had 
been  recently  established,  where  the  Christians  were 
not  very  well  known  or  their  religion  generally  under- 
stood. Such  were  some  of  the  cities  in  the  province  of 
Asia.  Paul  had  spent  three  years  at  Ephesus,  from  52 
to  55,  and  from  this  headquarters  his  assistants  had 
gone  out  to  estabHsh  the  church  in  nearby  cities.  Per- 
haps some  of  the  country  towns  had  been  evangelized 
by  persons  who  had  gone  up  to  Ephesus,  heard  Paul 
and  been  won  to  Christ,  and  then  returned  to  spread 
the  message  and  share  the  new  life  in  Christ  with  their 
old  neighbors  and  friends.  Such  a  man,  perhaps,  was 
Philemon  of  Colossae.  It  was  in  these  small,  new,  but 
growing  churches  of  western  Asia  Minor  that  the  per- 
secution now  raged. 

There  is  a  book  in  the  New  Testament,  called  the 
Apocalypse,  or  Revelation,  of  John,  which  contains 
some  letters  addressed  about  this  time  to  Christians  in 
the  chief  cities  of  this  region;  and  there  are  also  other 
references  in  the  volume  to  the  persecution  under  Nero. 
The  form  in  which  we  have  the  book  to-day  is  later  in 
date,  for  it  was  probably  edited,  with  the  addition  of 


CHRISTIANITY  IN   THE  DAYS   OF   NERO     227 

much  new  material,  toward  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Domitian  (81-96)  when  still  another  persecution  had 
broken  out.  But  these  older  sections  of  the  book  are 
useful  as  showing  us  what  the  Christians  felt  and 
thought  when  they  found  themselves  threatened  with 
death  on  account  of  their  faith. 

A  vision  of  the  Son  of  Man. — The  original  work 
was  written  by  a  Christian  called  John — some  say  the 
apostle  John.  The  author  had  been  banished  to  the 
rocky,  desolate  island  of  Patmos,  one  of  the  Cyclades, 
forty  miles  southwest  of  the  harbor  of  Miletus.  There 
on  a  Lord's  day  (the  Christian  Sunday,  not  the  Jewish 
Sabbath)  he  was  ''in  the  Spirit"  and  saw  a  wondrous 
vision  which  he  was  commanded  to  ''write  in  a  book" 
and  send  it  to  the  seven  churches  of  Asia — at  Ephesus, 
Smyrna,  Pergamum,  Thyatira,  Sardis,  Philadelphia,  and 
Laodicea. 

The  account  of  his  vision  is  as  follows: 

"And  I  turned  to  see  the  voice  which  spake  with 
me.  And  having  turned,  I  saw  seven  golden  lamp- 
stands;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  lampstands  the  *Oiie 
like  unto  a  Son  of  man/  clothed  with  a  garment 
down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  the  breast  with  a 
golden  girdle.  His  head  and  his  hair  were  white  as 
white  wool,  like  snow ;  and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame 
of  fire;  and  his  feet  like  unto  burnished  brass,  as  if 
it  had  iDeen  refined  in  a  furnace ;  and  his  voice  was  as 
the  voice  of  many  waters.  And  he  had  in  his  right 
hand  seven  stars;  out  of  his  mouth  proceeded  a 
sharp,  two-edged  sword;  and  his  countenance  was 
like  the  sun  shining  in  full  strength. 

"When  I  saw  him  I  fell  at  his  feet  as  one  dead. 
But  he  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me  and  said:  *Fear 
not.  I  am  the  First  and  the  Last,  and  the  Living 
One.    I  became  dead,  and  behold,  I  am  alive  unto 


228    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  ages  of  ages,  and  I  hold  the  keys  of  Death  and  of 
Hades.  Write  therefore  the  thmgs  you  have  seen, 
and  the  things  that  are  now,  and  shall  be  hereafter: 
the  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  that  you  saw  in  my 
right  hand,  and  the  seven  golden  lampstands.  The 
seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches, 
and  the  seven  lampstands  are  the  seven  churches.'  " 
— ^Revelation  i :  12-20. 

The  "One  like  unto  a  Son  of  man"  is  of  course  Jesus, 
whom  the  Christians  expected  to  return  in  glory  at  any 
moment  (see  Acts  i:  11;  i  Thessalonians  4: 16;  2  Thes- 
salonians  2:8).  The  term  had  been  used  in  the  Old 
Testament  (Daniel  7: 13),  and  was  now  understood  to 
mean  the  Messiah;  indeed,  Jesus  himself  had  so  used 
it  (Mark  14: 62).  For  John,  the  coming  of  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  man  in  glory,  that  is,  as  the  heavenly  Messiah, 
was  the  only  hope  of  salvation  and  rescue  from  persecu- 
tion for  himself  and  his  fellow  Christians. 

"Behold,  he  comes  with  the  clouds; 
And  every  eye  shall  see  him. 
Even  they  that  pierced  him. 

And  all  the  tribes  of  earth  shall  mourn  because  of 
him. 
Even  so.    Amen."  — ^Revelation  i :  7. 

But  the  greatest  significance  of  his  vision  was  that  Jesus, 
himself,  even  now  "in  glory,"  stands  in  the  midst  of 
his  persecuted  churches,  the  Son  of  Man  amid  the 
golden  lampstands,  and  holds  in  the  hollow  of  his 
mighty  hand  his  suffering  but  faithful  followers. 

The  seven  letters. — Now  follow  the  epistles  to  the 
seven  churches,  as  messages  from  their  divine  Lord,  to 
accompany  the  narrative  of  the  vision.  The  churches 
were  located  in  cities  lying  roughly  in  a  circle  north  and 
east  of  Ephesus,  on  the  main  highways  of  the  province, 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  NERO    229 

important  centers  from  which  the  messages  would  be 
read  and  repeated  to  the  scattered  believers  in  the 
surrounding  villages  and  towns  further  inland.  A  mes- 
senger could  make  the  circuit,  reading  the  appropriate 
letter  in  each  church. 

The  first  is  addressed  to  Ephesus,  naturally,  for  it  was 
the  capital  of  the  province.  ''I  know  thy  toil  and 
patience  .  .  .  but  I  have  this  against  thee,  that  thou 
didst  leave  thy  first  love.  Remember  from  whence  thou 
art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works!  ...  To 
him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life 
which  is  in  the  Garden  of  God"  (Revelation  2:1-7). 
Likewise  to  each  of  the  others  was  a  message  addressed, 
full  of  comfort  and  warning,  consolation  and  reproof, 
ending  always  with  encouragement  and  the  promise  of 
some  special  blessing  in  the  coming  kingdom— the 
"morning  star,"  the  ''white  stone,"  the  "name  of  the 
city  of  God."  To  one,  Laodicea,  were  addressed  the 
wonderful  words  which  have  inspired  so  many  sermons, 
hymns,  and  works  of  art: 

"Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock; 
If  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door, 
I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him, 

And  he  with  me. 
He  that  overcometh,  I  will  give  to  him 
To  sit  down  with  me  in  my  throne, 
Even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  sat  down  with  my 
Father 
In  His  throne."  —Revelation  3 :  20-21. 

The  mark  of  the  beast.— But  along  with  this  mes- 
sage of  consolation  and  encouragement  for  the  persecuted 
Christians  of  the  rich  senatorial  province  of  Asia,  ad- 
dressed to  them  by  their  divine  and  glorified  Lord, 
Revelation    contains    the    strange    prophecy    found  in 


230    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

chapter  13.  It  describes  the  great  "beast  coming  up  out 
of  the  sea,"  as  in  the  book  of  Daniel  (chapter  7),  only 
here  the  reference  is  to  the  Roman  Empire.  Like  all  the 
heathen  empires  which  had  ruled  the  world  in  earlier 
days,  and  more  cruel  than  them  all — with  the  clawed 
feet  of  the  "bear,"  the  mouth  of  the  "lion,"  and  many- 
colored  Hke  the  "leopard"  (13:2) — this  empire  has  re- 
ceived from  the  "dragon"  (Satan)  aU  its  power  and 
authority.  This  is  indeed  a  bitter  picture  of  the  Roman 
Empire — and  must  have  been  written  by  some  Jewish 
rebel,  who  was  also  a  Christian,  between  60  and  70  A.  D. 

"And  it  was  given  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the 
saints,  and  to  overcome  them.  And  there  was  given 
unto  him  authority  over  every  tribe  and  people  and 
tongue  and  nation.  And  all  tiiat  dwell  on  the  earth 
shall  worship  him,  every  one  whose  name  hath  not 
been  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.  ...  If  any 
man  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear.  If  any  man  is  des- 
tined for  captivity,  into  captivity  he  goes;  if  any 
man  kills  with  the  sword,  with  the  sword  must  he 
be  killed.  Here  is  the  patience  and  the  faith  of  the 
saints." — ^Revelation  13 :  7-10. 

"The  saints"  are  the  persecuted  Christians,  suffering 
captivity  and  the  sword  under  Nero.  Then  the  vision 
continues: 

"And  I  saw  another  beast  coming  up  out  of  the 
earth;  and  he  had  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  and  he 
spake  as  a  dragon.  And  he  exercises  all  the  author- 
ity of  the  first  beast  in  his  sight.  And  he  causes  the 
world  and  them  that  dwell  therein  to  worship  the 
first  beast,  whose  death-stroke  was  healed.  And  he 
does  great  signs,  even  making  fire  to  come  down 
out  of  heaven  upon  the  earth  in  the  sight  of  men. 
And  he  deceives  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  by 


CHRISTIANITY  IN   THE  DAYS   OF  NERO    231 

means  of  the  signs  .  .  .  saying  to  them  that  they 
should  make  an  image  to  the  beast.  .  .  .  And  it 
was  given  unto  him  to  give  breath  to  it,  even  the 
image  of  the  beast,  that  the  image  should  speak, 
and  cause  as  many  as  should  not  worship  the  image 
to  be  killed.  And  he  causeth  all,  the  small  and  the 
great,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  free  and  the  slave, 
to  receive  a  mark  on  their  right  hand  or  upon  their 
forehead;  and  no  man  is  able  to  buy  or  to  sell,  save 
he  that  hast  the  mark,  even  the  name  of  the  beast  or 
the  number  of  his  name.  Here  is  wisdom!  He 
that  has  understanding,  let  him  count  the  number 
of  the  beast;  for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man;  his  nimi- 
ber  is  six  hundred  and  sixty  and  six." — Revelation 
13:  11-18. 

In  this  passage  the  "beast"  is  no  longer  the  empire;  it 
is  "a  man,"  whose  ''number"  is  666;  and  the  "second 
beast"  is  the  imperial  priesthood  which  enforces  his 
worship.  Who  is  this  man,  this  beast-man  that  other  men 
are  compelled  to  worship  under  penalty  of  death?  Many 
interpretations  have  been  offered,  but  the  most  probable 
is  to  translate  the  name  into  Hebrew,  the  language  of 
the  original  author,  and  sum  up  the  letters  after  the 
ancient  fashion. 


N=    50 

R  =  200 

Q  =  100 

W  =      6 

S  =    60 

N=    50 

R  =  200 

306        plus       360  =  666 

NRWN-QSR  (Neron  Qasar)  is  the  Hebrew  for  the 
Emperor  Nero— "Nero  Caesar"!  The  cryptogram  is 
solved.  It  would  have  been  dangerous  to  refer  in  so 
many  words  to  the  worship  of  the  Emperor.    Hence  this 


232     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

crjqjtic,  oracular  style  of  writing,  which  was  common 
in  all  the  apocalyptic  literature  of  Judaism  and  early 
Christianity  (see  Daniel  9:  27  and  Mark  13: 14). 

The  coming  judgment. — ^There  were  other  docu- 
ments, Jewish  or  Jewish-Christian  in  authorship,  of 
which  the  author  of  John's  Apocalypse  made  use.  In 
one  of  these  occurs  the  solemn  chant  of  exultation  over 
the  coming  fall  of  Rome: 

"Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  [Rome]  the  great; 
It  has  become  the  habitation  of  demons 
And  the  abiding-place  of  unclean  spirits.  .  .  . 
Rejoice  over  her,  thou  heaven. 
And  ye  saints,  ye  apostles,  ye  prophets; 
For  God  hath  judged  your  cause  against  her !" 

— ^Revelation  18:  2,  20. 

The  victory  of  the  saints. — But  this  is  not  the  final 
message  of  the  book.  Strange  and  weird  as  are  its 
visions,  confused  as  seems  their  order  and  obscure  their 
meaning,  the  Apocalypse  of  John  is  a  wonderful  book  of 
consolations  and  promises.  The  oppressed  and  per- 
secuted Christians  may  indeed  be  annihilated  upon 
earth — John  seems  to  expect  they  will  all  be  put  to 
death  as  martyrs;  nevertheless,  they  shall  be  raised 
from  the  dead  to  reign  with  Christ  upon  a  renewed 
earth,  and  at  last  from  heaven  shall  descend  "the  New 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God,  made 
ready  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband." 

"And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  throne  saying, 
*Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men, 
And  he  shall  dwell  with  them 
And  they  shall  be  his  peoples, 
And  God  himself  shall  be  with  them, 
And  be  their  God. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN   THE  DAYS   OF  NERO    233 

And  he  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their 

eyes; 
And  death  shall  be  no  more ; 
Neither  shall  there  be  mourning, 
Nor  crying,  nor  pain,  any  more ; 
The  first  things  are  passed  away.' 
And  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  said, 
*Behold,  I  make  all  things  new.*  " 

— ^Revelation  21 : 3-5. 

This  promise  is  the  climax  of  the  book.  What  consola- 
tion, encouragement,  spiritual  strength  it  must  have 
given  those  brave  and  faithful  men  and  women — yes, 
and  boys  and  girls — who  followed  Christ  and  "bore  his 
name  in  their  foreheads"  and  gave  their  witness  in  those 
far-off  days  when  "witness"  and  "martyr"  were  inter- 
changeable terms!  As  we  read  over  its  strangely  beauti- 
ful pages  we  can  see  those  first  readers,  secretly  gather- 
ing by  night  for  their  services  of  worship  and  meetings 
of  fellowship  in  darkened  houses  on  narrow,  little-known 
streets  in  the  obscure  quarters  of  the  ancient  cities  of 
"Asia."  The  pages  are  old  and  worn;  there  are  spots 
on  them  where  tears  once  fell,  and  there  are  stains 
which  once  were  red  with  blood.  It  meant  something  to 
be  a  Christian  in  those  days! 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up,  in  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus ^  pp.  48-51, 

the  significance  of  the  title,  "the  Son  of  Man." 
Look  up  also  the  references  to  the  Bible  given  in  the 
chapter  above. 

2 .  Try  to  name  some  of  the  reasons  which  might  have  been 

given  by  an  educated  Roman  to  excuse  the  outbreak 
against  the  Christians.  Remember  that  many  of 
them  were  Jews;  many  were  hated  by  their  fellow 


234    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Jews  for  giving  up  the  ancestral  religion;  and  pagans, 
especially  the  ignorant  rabble,  were  opposed  to  **new 
gods" — as  were  the  Boxers  in  China. 

3.  Read  Revelation  18,  the  chant  over  fallen  Babylon, 

and  note  the  references  to  its  wealth  and  commercial 
prestige.  What  is  the  correct  interpretation  of 
**Babylon"?    (See  also  Revelation  17:  9,  18.) 

4.  Explain  the  "number  of  the  beast"  in  Revelation  13: 

18. 

5.  Read  some  of  the  songs  of  rejoicing  over  the  future  vic- 

tory of  Christ  and  his  saints — Revelation  5:9-14; 
7:10-12;  11:15-18;  12:10-11.  What  would  these 
songs  mean  to  those  who  first  read  them? 

6.  The  book  of  Revelation  is  sometimes  explained  as  re- 

ferring to  still-future  events,  to  take  place  at  the 
end  of  the  world.  Would  promises  of  such  far-off 
events,  thousands  of  years  in  the  future,  have  had 
much  meaning  for  persecuted  Christians  in  the  days 
of  Nero  and  Domitian? 

7.  Evidently,  most  of  the  language  of  Revelation  is  fig- 

urative and  symbolic.  But  no  such  picture  of 
heaven  and  the  life  to  come  is  to  be  found  elsewhere 
in  the  Bible.  Mention  two  or  three  facts  about 
that  life  which  are  taken  for  granted  in  what  you 
have  read  in  the  book.  Is  there  any  unhappiness 
in  that  life?  Are  Christ's  servants  in  his  presence  or 
not?    Will  sin  and  disobedience  to  God  continue? 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE 

The  reign  of  Nero  was  one  of  the  darkest  periods  in 
the  world's  history.  His  persecution  of  the  Christians 
was  only  one,  if  one  of  the  worst,  of  his  many  misdeeds. 
We  must  not,  of  course,  take  Nero  as  a  fair  example  of 
the  Roman  emperors,  for  some  of  them  were  brave  and 
honorable  men  and  good  administrators.  Nor  must  we 
suppose  that  the  Christians  were  persecuted  as  Chris- 
tians. The  day  was  soon  to  come  when  angry  mobs 
roared  out  the  cry,  "Christians  to  the  lions,"  and  riot 
filled  the  streets  of  Rome  and  other  capitals  until  their 
thirst  for  blood  was  satisfied.  But  that  evil  time  was 
not  yet.  Christians  were  not  the  only  ones  who  suffered 
under  Nero.  He  was  universally  hated  for  his  injustice 
—and  particularly  in  Palestine. 

CHRISTIANITY  AMONG  THE  JEWS 

We  have  read  some  of  the  older  sources  of  which  the 
author  of  the  Revelation  of  John  made  use,  which  date 
from  the  days  of  Nero  and  were  written,  in  all  likelihood, 
by  Jews.  They  may  have  been  written  in  Palestine.  All 
the  provinces  suffered  under  the  reign  of  "the  beast." 
But  in  Palestine  revolutionary  feeling  ran  especially 
high.  Two  years  before  Nero's  death  (that  is,  in  66 
A.  D.),  a  serious  war  broke  out,  which  ended  only  with 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  destruction  of  the  Temple 
in  70  A.  D.  Involved  in  this  tragedy  and  in  the  events 
wliich  led  up  to  it  were  the  Christians  who  lived  in 
Jerusalem  and  throughout  Palestine.  How  fared  the 
church  in  that  region  during  those  sad  and  troubled  years? 

235 


236    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Zealous  for  the  Law. — It  will  be  remembered  that 
when  Paul  arrived  in  Jerusalem  in  the  year  56,  just  be- 
fore his  arrest,  he  found  the  Christians  in  that  city  care- 
fully observing  the  Jewish  Law.  This  was  only  natural, 
for  they  had  been  born  Jews,  and  continued  to  observe 
the  ancestral  rites  and  customs  even  after  they  became 
Christians.  They  beHeved  that  the  Messiah  was  none 
other  than  Jesus;  that  he  was  in  heaven,  soon  to  come 
in  glory,  hold  the  Last  Judgment,  and  set  up  his  reign 
upon  earth.  And  meantime  they  were  doing  aU  they 
could  to  hasten  his  coming  (on  Jewish  principles)  by 
observing  the  Law  with  care  and  strictness.  Hence 
James  and  the  elders  could  say  to  Paul,  "You  see, 
brother,  how  many  thousands  there  are  among  the  Jews 
who  have  believed  [in  Christ] ;  and  they  are,  all  of  them, 
zealous  for  the  Law"  (Acts  21 :  20). 

As  Paul  had  already  pointed  out  more  than  once  to 
his  Gentile  friends,  this  observance  of  the  Law  by 
Christians  really  reduced  Christianity  to  nothing  more 
than  a  sect  of  Judaism,  a  sect  that  believed  just  as  all 
other  Jews  beHeved,  save  that  they  identified  the 
Messiah  with  their  Master,  Jesus.  In  time  such  a  sect 
was  bound  to  disappear,  as,  indeed,  Jewish  Christianity 
did  disappear  in  later  centuries,  its  last  vestiges  being 
engulfed  by  the  rising  tide  of  Mohammedanism  in  the 
eighth  century. 

Nevertheless,  in  the  first  century,  this  Jewish  Christian- 
ity lost  none  of  its  original  power.  The  Christian  Jews 
were  respected,  feared,  and  sometimes  hated  by  their  ortho- 
dox neighbors.  It  may  be  that  their  careful  observance 
of  the  Law  helped  to  win  over  many  of  their  neighbors  to 
the  new  faith,  and  thus  served  a  missionary  purpose.  One 
or  two  quaint  and  interesting  anecdotes  have  been  handed 
down  in  popular  tradition  from  those  days,  showing  how 


THE  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE  237 

orthodox  Jews  and  "Nazarenes''  lived  side  by  side,  if  not 
in  entire  harmony  at  least  not  in  open  conflict. 

One  such  apocryphal  story  is  told  of  James,  the 
brother  of  the  Lord  who  was  "bishop"  or  head  of  the 
Jerusalem  church  in  the  fifties  and  sixties.  He  was 
highly  respected  by  his  Pharisaic  neighbors  for  his  piety, 
and  was  accordingly  surnamed  "the  just."  So  frequent 
were  his  visits  to  the  Temple  to  pray  for  the  forgiveness 
of  his  people  that  his  knees,  it  was  said,  became  calloused 
like  a  camel's.  When  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  saw  the 
growing  danger  that  the  whole  Jewish  people  would 
"expect  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,"  they  went  to  James  and 
said:  "We  beg  of  you,  restrain  the  people,  who  are  being 
led  astray  after  Jesus  as  if  he  were  the  Christ.  At  the 
approaching  feast  of  the  Passover  go  up  on  the  wing  of 
the  Temple  and  speak  to  the  assembled  crowd  and  tell 
them  the  truth  about  Jesus."  But  James  answered  with 
a  loud  voice,  "Why  do  you  ask  me  about  Jesus  the  Son 
of  man?  He  is  now  sitting  in  the  heavens,  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Great  Power,  and  is  about  to  come  on  the 
clouds  of  heaven!"  Whereupon  they  cast  him  down 
from  the  wing  of  the  Temple,  and  beat  him  to  death 
with  clubs  (see  Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  History,  2:  23). 

Opposition  from  the  Jews. — But  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  no  further  opposition  or  persecution  took 
place.  Orthodox  Jews  could  not  tolerate  some  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Christians;  and  the  existence  of  a  rival 
synagogue,  calling  itself  the  Ecclesia,  or  Qahal,  the 
congregation  of  the  "true  Israel,"  was  more  than  most 
conservative  Jews  could  endure.  The  open  enmity  of 
the  early  days  had  passed,  but  the  persecution  was 
none  the  less  real  even  when  it  took  a  different  course. 
For  example,  it  might  appear  in  the  treatment  of  Chris- 
tian workmen  by  their  orthodox  employers.    The  heart- 


238    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

lessness  of  rich  landowners  in  withholding  the  wages  of 
their  laborers  (probably  Christians)  is  denounced  in  the 
Epistle  of  James. 

"Go  to  now,ye  rich,  weep  and  howl  for  your  miseries 
that  are  coming  upon  you !  Your  riches  are  corrupted, 
and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten.  Your  gold  and 
your  silver  is  rusted;  and  their  rust  shall  be  for  a 
testimony  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as 
fire.  You  have  laid  up  your  treasure  in  the  last 
days.  Behold,  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  mowed 
your  fields,  which  is  kept  back  by  you  through  fraud, 
crieth  out;  and  the  cries  of  them  that  have  reaped 
have  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 
You  have  lived  delicately  on  the  earth,  and  taken 
your  pleasure.  You  have  nourished  your  hearts  in  a 
day  of  slaughter.  You  have  condemned  and  killed  the 
righteous;  he  doth  not  resist  you." — ^James  5: 1-6. 

So  far  as  the  author  of  these  words  can  see,  there  is  no 
hope  of  redress  save  in  the  coming  of  the  Messiah 
(Jesus)  to  hold  the  Judgment.  And  he  adds,  "Behold, 
the  judge  stands  before  the  doors!"  (5:  9.) 

Scattered  over  Palestine,  from  Galilee  and  the  region 
of  Caesarea  Philippi  on  the  north  to  the  fringes  of  the 
desert  on  the  south,  in  the  httle  villages  as  well  as  in 
the  larger  centers  of  population,  were  to  be  found  the 
Christians,  or  "Nazarenes,"  Jews  who  added  to  their 
faith  this  one  principle,  that  they  beUeved  the  Messiah 
to  be  none  other  than  Jesus;  and  believing,  they  under- 
took to  live  as  he  commanded,  observing  the  Law  in 
the  spirit  which  he  exemplified  and  taught,  and  looking 
day  by  day  for  his  coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven 
*'with  power  and  great  glory."  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  written  (somewhat  later)  in 
Palestine  or  Syria.    It  is  noteworthy  that  this  expecta- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE  239 

tion  of  Jesus'  coming  in  glory  as  the  Messiah  is  greatly 
emphasized  and  elaborated  in  this  Gospel.  The  tradi- 
tions of  earlier  Palestinian  Christianity  made  much  of 
this  hope;  and  the  fact  is  perfectly  natural,  considering 
the  constant  unrest  and  oppression  and  danger  in  which 
the  Jewish  Christians  lived. 

THE  FALL  OF  JERUSALEM 

AU  through  the  years  leading  up  to  the  "middle 
sixties/'  when  Nero  had  sunk  to  the  deepest  depths  of 
vice  and  crime,  and  all  the  world  seethed  with  unrest, 
little  Palestine  was  steadily  preparing  all  unconsciously 
for  its  fate.  No  one  dreamed — save  a  few  seers,  most  of 
whom  echoed  the  prophetic  words  of  our  Lord — of  what 
lay  in  store  for  the  Holy  City  and  the  Holy  Land  in  the 
next  few  years. 

The  insurrection  of  the  zealots. — For  decades — in 
fact,  ever  since  the  Roman  occupation  began — there  had 
been  Jews  who  bitterly  opposed  the  payment  of  tribute 
to  Caesar.  Any  recognition  of  ''the  wicked  kingdom"  was 
sinful  disloyalty  to  God  and  his  sacred  covenant  with 
Israel.  Some  of  these,  called  zealots,  were  ready  to  seize 
the  sword  and  throw  off  forever  the  hated  Roman  yoke. 
As  things  went  from  bad  to  worse,  under  Nero;  as 
procurators  were  sent  out  to  Jerusalem  by  the  Emperor, 
one  after  another,  ignorant  of  Jewish  customs  and 
arbitrary  in  the  use  of  their  authority;  as,  finally,  the 
smoldering  wrath  of  the  nation  could  be  restrained  no 
longer,  it  burst  forth  in  the  year  66  in  a  flame  of  in- 
surrection. 

Gessius  Florus  was  the  last  of  the  procurators  of 
Judaea,  and  he  was  probably  the  worst.  Brigandage 
flourished  on  every  hand,  the  procurator  himself  sharing 
the    spoils.     Private    and    public    murder,    systematic 


240     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

terrorization,  organized  cruelty  covered  the  land.  When 
the  storm  of  revolt  broke  out,  in  the  spring  of  66,  Florus 
was  driven  from  Jerusalem,  the  Emperor's  offerings  were 
thrown  out  of  the  Temple  and  the  Roman  garrison 
killed  after  its  surrender.  Cestius  Gallus,  the  legate  of 
Syria,  marched  into  Palestine  with  a  force  of  twenty 
thousand,  burned  the  "New  City"  on  the  north  side  of 
Jerusalem,  retreated,  and  was  routed  at  Beth-horon. 
Nero  now  sent  out  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men, 
under  the  able  general  Vespasian.  The  summer  of  the 
year  67  was  spent  in  subduing  Galilee,  where  the  Jews 
under  Josephus  (later  the  historian  of  the  war)  offered 
stout  resistance.  With  the  loss  of  Galilee,  the  Jews  in 
Jerusalem  were  driven  to  more  desperate  measures. 
The  zealots  now  took  the  lead  and,  like  the  Russian 
Bolshevists,  massacred  their  opponents  and  all  who  were 
suspected  of  lacking  sympathy  with  the  revolution. 

Vespasian  learned  of  the  internecine  strife  within  the 
city  and  took  his  time,  knowing  its  capture  would  be  the 
easier  the  longer  he  delayed.  In  68  he  conquered  the 
country  east  of  the  Jordan  and  Judaea.  Then  came  the 
news  of  Nero's  death,  and  for  a  year  the  invasion  was 
at  a  standstill.  On  July  i  in  the  year  69  Vespasian  was 
himself  hailed  emperor  by  his  troops  and  left  Palestine 
for  Rome,  leaving  his  son  Titus  to  besiege  and  take 
Jerusalem.  Divided  now  into  bitter,  murdering  factions, 
weakened  by  famine  and  reduced  by  pestilence,  the 
most  terrible  scenes  were  enacted  within  the  beleaguered 
city.  Wall  after  wall  gave  way  before  the  assaulting 
troops  of  Titus.  At  last,  in  the  month  of  August  of  the 
year  70  the  very  citadel  of  Judaism,  the  sacred  Temple, 
was  stormed  and  set  on  fire.  A  month  later  the  Upper 
City  was  taken,  where  a  few  defenders  had  gathered  to 
fight  to  the  bitter  end,  and  Jerusalem  had  fallen!    The 


THE  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE  241 

prophecy  of  Jesus  had  come  true;  her  enemies  had  come, 
and  cast  up  a  mound  about  her,  and  dashed  her  even 
with  the  ground,  and  left  not  one  stone  upon  another — 
and  all  because  she  ''knew  not  the  time  of  her  visitation" 

(seeLuke  19: 41-44)- 

The  flight  of  the  Christians.— Through  this  tre- 
mendous poUtical  and  social  upheaval  passed  the  Jewish 
Christians.  There  is  an  old  tradition  that  just  before  the 
final  siege  of  the  city  an  oracle  was  discovered  which 
bade  them  flee.  Leaving  the  doomed  capital  they 
gathered  at  a  village  called  Pella,  in  northeastern 
Palestine,  east  of  the  Jordan  and  just  south  of  the  Lake 
of  Galilee.  We  do  not  know  what  this  ''oracle"  was;  in 
the  confusion  of  the  siege  many  stories  of  signs  and 
portents  and  mysterious  voices  spread  abroad.  But  it 
may  be  that  the  oracle  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
the  words  of  our  Lord  as  reported  in  the  document  some- 
times called  the  "Little  Apocalypse"  (Mark  13,  Matthew 
24,  Luke  21). 

"But  when  ye  see  the  abomination  of  desolation 
standing  where  he  ought  not  (let  him  that  readeth 
understand!),  then  let  them  that  are  in  Judsea  flee 
unto  the  mountains;  and  let  him  that  is  on  the 
housetop  not  go  down,  nor  enter  in,  to  take  any- 
thing out  of  his  house.  .  .  .  For  in  those  days  shall 
be  tribulation,  such  as  there  hath  not  been  the  like 
from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  until  now,  and 
never  shall  be.  And  except  the  Lord  had  shortened 
the  days,  no  flesh  would  have  been  saved;  but  for  the 
sake  of  the  elect,  whom  he  chose,  he  shortened  the 
days."— Mark  13:  i4-i5»  19-20. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Luke,  instead  of  the  "abomination 
of  desolation,"  has  the  words,  "When  ye  see  Jerusalem 


242     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

compassed  with  armies,  then  know  that  her  desolation 
is  at  hand"  (Luke  21:  20). 

After  the  war,  many  Christians  remained  in  Palestine, 
though  great  numbers  had  fled  to  other  countries, 
especially  to  Eg3^t  and  Asia  Minor,  where  there  were 
already  large  colonies  of  Jews.  There  was  now  no 
Temple  in  Jerusalem,  at  which  to  offer  the  sacrifices 
required  by  the  Law. 

Decline  of  Christianity  in  Palestine. — More  and 
more,  from  the  end  of  the  first  century  onward,  Chris- 
tianity in  Palestine  sank  into  insignificance.  Orthodox 
Pharisaic  Judaism  triumphed,  codified  its  rules,  its  inter- 
pretation of  the  Torah,  and  as  far  as  possible  ignored 
every  mention  of  Jesus  and  his  followers.  In  the  Talmud, 
the  final  codification  of  its  traditions,  Jesus  is  described 
as  "a  magician  who  deceived  and  led  Israel  astray." 

The  position  of  the  Jewish  Christians  in  Palestine  is 
suggested  in  a  story  told  by  the  second-century  Chris- 
tian writer,  Hegesippus.  He  relates  that  Domitian, 
having  heard  that  the  Christians  worshiped  another 
king  than  Caesar,  whom  they  expected  to  come  and  reign, 
commanded  all  the  family  of  David  to  be  sought  out,  in 
order  to  destroy  the  representatives  of  the  Jewish  royal 
line.  Among  those  arrested  were  two  grandsons  of  Judas, 
the  brother  of  our  Lord.  When  questioned  as  to  their 
property,  they  answered  that  it  amounted  to  only  nine 
thousand  denarii  (about  $1,700) — and  this  was  not  in 
money  but  simply  the  value  of  a  poor  forty-acre  farm 
on  which  they  toiled  to  raise  their  annual  taxes.  Then 
they  showed  their  calloused  hands  in  proof  of  their  state- 
ment. And  when  asked  about  Christ  and  his  kingdom, 
they  replied  that  it  was  "not  a  temporal  or  an  earthly 
kingdom,  but  celestial  and  angelic;  that  it  would  appear 
at  the  end  of  the  age,  when  coming  in  glory  he  would 


THE  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE  243 

judge  the  living  and  the  dead  and  give  to  everyone 
according  to  his  works."  Domitian  was  disgusted  with 
what  seemed  to  him  their  fooKsh  superstition,  and  called 
off  the  hunt  for  treason.  (See  Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical 
History,  3:  19-20.) 

Though  there  were  always  some  Christians  in  Pales- 
tine, down  to  the  days  of  Mohammed,  their  number 
seems  to  have  been  small  and  uninfluential. 

The  significance  of  Judaism  for  Christianity. — 
It  was  in  ''the  fullness  of  the  time"  that  Jesus  came. 
The  world  was  ready  for  the  gospel.  Roman  govern- 
ment and  roads,  Greek  language,  Jewish  faith  in  one 
God  and  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  syn- 
agogues in  every  notable  city  of  the  empire  and  a  per- 
sistent missionary  propaganda — these  prepared  the 
world  for  Christ.  But  if  Christ's  coming  was  none  too 
early,  it  was  also  none  too  late.  Christianity  spread,  the 
church  was  organized  and  grew,  Jesus  himself  had 
appeared,  while  Judaism  still  flourished  and  spread 
abroad,  just  before  it  received  the  blow  which  destroyed 
its  prestige  and  ended  its  usefulness  as  a  messenger 
preparing  the  way  for  the  Messiah. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  see  "the  hand  of  Gk)d  at  work 
in  history,"  in  such  a  situation  as  this.  Judaism  did  not 
perish — it  is  very  much  alive  even  to-day — but  it  lost 
something  infinitely  precious  in  the  eyes  of  every  Jew 
when  the  Temple  was  laid  in  ruins.  Nevertheless,  before 
this  catastrophe  took  place,  Jesus  appeared  and  an- 
nounced a  kingdom  higher  than  that  of  any  one  race  or 
nation,  a  religion  superior  to  all  political  and  social 
divisions  among  men,  and  destined  not  only  to  survive 
the  shock  of  Jewish  intolerance  and  Roman  persecution 
and  the  destruction  of  the  central  shrine  of  Jewish  faith, 
but  to  outlive  all  other  governments,  religions,  worships. 


244    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Turn  back  to  Chapters  XI  and  XIV  and  describe  the 

state  of  the  chtirch  in  Palestine  when  last  we  con- 
sidered it.  Was  it  at  peace,  or  suffering  persecution? 
See  Acts  9:  31;  12:  1-3,  24. 

2.  What  was  the  chief  difference  between  orthodox  Jews 

and  Christians  in  Palestine  in  the  first  century? 
Remember  that  both  orthodox  (Pharisaic)  Jews  and 
Christian  Jews  looked  for  the  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah. 

3.  What  religious  and  economic  conditions  are  reflected 

in  the  Epistle  of  James?  Read  the  epistle  and  note 
its  main  teachings,  briefly  summarizing  them  in  your 
notebook. 

4.  The  following  passages  have  been  taken  to  indicate  a 

Palestinian  (or  at  least  Jewish  Christian)  origin  for 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew:  i:  i;  5:  17-20;  8:  10-12;  13: 
37-43,  52;  16: II,  17-19;  19*  28;  28: 15.  See  if  you 
can  explain  their  significance  in  this  sense. 

5.  What  was  the  meaning  of  the  Christian  "oracle"  re- 

ceived before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem? 

6.  What  was  the  attitude  of  later  orthodox  Judaism  to 

Christianity,  and  its  view  of  our  Lord,  as  recorded 
in  the  Talmud?    How  could  such  a  view  arise? 

7.  Show  how   Christianity  arrived   *'in  the  fullness  of 

time,"  and  how  a  few  years  later  might  have  been 
just  too  late — so  far  as  we  can  see — for  the  purposes 
of  God. 

8.  Is  the  "social  teaching"  of  Saint  James  (and  other 

New  Testament  writers)  of  importance  to-day? 
Does  Christianity  imply  "social  justice" — in  in- 
dustry, business,  trade?  What  would  this  world  be 
like  if  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  were 
fully  applied? 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

The  early  Christians  had  no  New  Testament,  such  as 
we  have  to-day;  at  least,  they  had  none  until  it  began 
to  be  gathered  together  toward  the  middle  of  the  second 
century.  Instead,  they  had  the  Old  Testament,  which 
was  the  Bible  of  Judaism.  All  Christians,  Jewish  and 
Ckntile,  used  this  Bible.  The  Jewish  Christians  in 
Palestine  read  it  either  in  the  original  Hebrew  (though 
this  was  now  a  purely  "literary"  and  not  a  spoken 
language)  or  in  the  common  dialect  known  as  Aramaic, 
into  which  the  Lessons  were  sometimes  translated  in  the 
synagogue  by  an  interpreter,  called  the  methurgeman. 
Christians  outside  Palestine  in  the  Greek-speaking 
Mediterranean  world,  whether  Jewish  or  Gentile  by 
birth,  read  it  in  the  Greek  version  known  as  the  Sep- 
tuagint.  This  translation  was  used  in  the  services  of 
both  the  Jewish  synagogue  and  the  Christian  ecclesia. 
It  is  an  interesting  translation,  in  many  parts  quite 
literal,  in  others  freely  paraphrased,  and  yet  preserving 
a  dignified  style  and  a  religious  tone  quite  suited  to  the 
translation  of  sacred  writings.  The  influence  of  this 
translation  is  to  be  seen  in  many  later  writers,  and  even 
in  the  New  Testament.  For  example,  Saint  Luke  proves 
upon  almost  every  page  of  his  Gospel  and  the  book  of 
Acts  his  years  of  familiarity  with  the  Septuagint. 

THE  EARLIEST  CHRISTIAN  WRITINGS 

Quite  naturally,  the  earliest  Christian  writings,  which 
form  the  bulk  of  our  New  Testament,  were  written  from 
time  to  time  as  need  and  occasion  arose.    The  writers 

245 


246    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

did  not  set  out  to  provide  a  Christian  Bible,  or  to  sup- 
plement the  Bible  they  already  possessed.  The  produc- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  was  thus  unconscious,  though 
it  was  surely  a  process  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
took  place  in  the  providence  of  God. 

Christianity  among  the  lowly. — There  are  several 
reasons  to  explain  why  the  early  Christians  did  not 
write  a  complete  record  of  the  spread  of  their  faith,  or 
even  a  full  and  detailed  account  of  the  earthly  life  of 
their  Lord.  One  of  these  is  the  fact  that,  as  Saint  Paul 
said — in  words  we  need  to  recall  again  and  again — "Not 
many  wise,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble"  were 
called  (i  Corinthians  1:26).  The  great  majority  were 
poor  and  ignorant.  As  Jesus  foresaw,  the  truths  of  the 
gospel  were  "hid  from  the  wise  and  understanding,  and 
revealed  unto  babes"  (Matthew  11:25).  Our  rehgion 
first  spread,  both  in  Palestine  and  in  the  world  outside, 
among  peasants  and  fishermen,  workingmen  and  artisans, 
the  poor  and  uneducated  of  the  ancient  world.  The 
picture  of  "Christ  Among  the  Lowly"  is  most  true  in 
its  symbolism.  For  it  was  they  only,  for  the  most  part, 
who  welcomed  the  message  of  dehverance  and  the 
promise  of  the  kingdom  to  come;  the  "wise  and  under- 
standing" w^ere  too  well  satisfied  with  the  world  as  it  was, 
with  themselves  its  leaders  and  guides.  As  in  GaHlee 
"the  common  people  heard  him  gladly,"  so  in  the  whole 
Graeco-Roman  world,  "the  lowly"  responded  to  Christ's 
teaching  and  the  teaching  concerning  him  which  was 
spread  abroad  through  the  work  of  the  early  missionaries 
and  apostles.  Of  course  there  were  exceptions;  Paul 
himself,  and  Mark  and  Luke  and  ApoUos,  and  others 
besides,  were  learned  men;  and  it  was  not  long  before 
there  were  Christian  believers  within  the  very  "house- 
hold of  Csesar"— close,  that  is,  to  "the  noble."    But  the 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT     247 

great  majority  of  Christ's  first  followers  were  not  men 
and  women  who  would  either  produce  or  preserve  de- 
tailed records  of  the  rise  of  their  religion.  The  very 
language  of  the  New  Testament  indicates  its  lowly 
origin.  Its  Greek  is  not  the  Greek  of  historians  and 
philosophers,  but  of  the  common  people,  the  koine,  or 
''common"  Greek  of  the  masses.  And  most  of  the  early 
Christians  were  so  poor  that  it  is  not  until  the  fourth 
century  that  their  sacred  books  were  copied  upon 
permanent  material  {vellum),  instead  of  the  fragile 
papyrus  commonly  used;  our  oldest  manuscripts  of  the 
New  Testament  belong  to  the  century  of  Constantine 
and  the  church's  triumph. 

A  Book  of  Martjrrs. — Another  reason  for  the  scanty 
remains  of  early  Christianity  is  the  persecutions.  Such 
records  as  survived  were  saved  from  the  fires  and 
destructions  of  those  recurrent  outbursts  of  bigotry  and 
fanaticism.  When  Christianity  came  to  be  persecuted  as 
a  proscribed  and  outlawed  religion,  then  every  sacred 
writing  or  article  of  church  furniture  or  ornament  or 
picture  used  in  its  worship  was  also  proscribed,  in  the 
effort  to  destroy  the  new  faith  root  and  branch.  But 
even  earlier  still  its  effects  are  to  be  seen:  not  only  the 
book  of  Acts  and  the  letters  of  Paul,  with  their  records 
and  echoes  of  opposition,  and  the  Apocalypse  of  John, 
called  forth  in  successive  parts  or  "editions"  by  the 
persecutions  under  Nero  and  Domitian;  not  only  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  other  New-Testament 
Epistles,  with  their  reflections  upon  "the  fiery  trial"  or 
their  anticipations  of  trial  about  to  come,  but  even  the 
Gospels  bear  those  marks.  They  were  written  in  days 
when  to  be  a  Christian  was  to  invite  insolence  and 
oppression,  and  they  were  written  for  those  who  had 
to  count  the  full  cost  of  discipleship. 


248     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Many  of  the  sayings  of  our  Lord,  therefore,  and  the 
incidents  of  his  Ufe,  were  selected  and  written  down  in 
the  Gospels  because  they  referred  to  the  persecution  of 
his  followers  after  his  death.  Such  sayings  as  those 
about  "forsaking  father  and  mother,"  "putting  the  hand 
to  the  plow"  and  not  looking  back,  being  "cast  out  of 
the  synagogues,"  "turning  the  other  cheek"  to  one's 
smiters,  the  man  building  a  tower,  "confessing  Christ 
before  men" — these  and  many  other  words  of  Jesus  were 
burned  into  the  memories  of  the  Christians  and  were 
written  down  in  the  Gospels  because  they  assured  the 
disciples  that  their  Master  had  foreseen  all  that  they 
were  to  endure,  had  foreseen  what  lay  beyond  the 
transient  "sufferings  of  this  present  time,"  and  had  him- 
self suffered  with  and  for  them  to  bring  in  that  glorious 
kingdom  of  his  Father  which  was  promised  "to  him  that 
endureth  to  the  end." 

The  whole  New  Testament  is  thus  in  a  sense  a  "Book 
of  Martyrs" — at  least  it  was  a  martyrs'  book.  It  is  all 
that  survived  the  terrible  persecutions  of  the  early  days. 

The  coming  kingdom. — There  is  a  third  reason,  and 
one  which  shows  itself  in  almost  every  part  of  the  New 
Testament,  to  explain  why  so  few  detailed  records  have 
come  down  from  the  first  century.  The  early  Christians 
expected  the  speedy  coming,  or  Farousia,  of  the  Lord 
from  heaven.  Jesus  was  soon  to  return  as  Messiah  and 
Judge,  hold  the  Last  Judgment,  and  pass  sentence  on  all 
mankind,  raise  his  martyred  followers  from  their  graves, 
and  set  up  the  kingdom  of  God.  Persons  who  expected 
Jesus  to  do  this  at  once,  who  thought  each  morning  as 
they  arose  that  this  day  might  be  the  last  of  "the  pres- 
ent evil  age"  and  to-morrow  see  the  dawn  of  the  end- 
less Reign  of  Christ — such  persons  did  not  sit  down  and 
write  annals  of  their  own  times  or  chronicles  of  the  recent 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT    249 

past.  Their  minds  and  hearts  were  full  of  the  coming  of 
their  Lord;  their  duty  was  to  watch  and  pray — "for  in 
an  hour  that  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  man  shall  come." 
They  lacked  the  motive  for  composing  historical  records. 

The  first  collected  writings. — Nevertheless,  some 
writings  appeared,  not  as  historical  records,  but,  as  we 
have  seen,  drawn  forth  by  the  occasion.  These  were  the 
first,  as  far  as  we  know,  of  the  Christian  writings  to  be 
preserved  for  future  use  and  copied  for  wider  reading: 
the  letters  of  Paul  to  his  scattered  groups  of  friends  and 
churches  in  Asia,  Macedonia,  Galatia,  Corinth,  and  Rome. 
According  to  his  own  direction,  in  one  or  two  instances, 
his  letters  were  read  in  other  churches  than  the  one 
addressed  (see  Colossians  4: 16).  This  no  doubt  led  to 
copying,  as  the  church  addressed  would  wish  to  preserve 
the  original  bearing  Paul's  own  greeting  or  signature  at 
the  end.  In  time  copies  were  probably  circulated  even 
more  widely;  the  Asiatic  Christians  would  exchange 
copies  of  his  letters  to  them  for  copies  of  other  letters, 
addressed  to  the  Corinthians,  the  Galatians,  and  so  on. 

In  this  way  an  extensive  and  fairly  complete  set  of 
Paul's  letters  would  be  compiled — and  this  was  the 
beginning  of  the  collection  of  the  early  Christian  writings 
known  as  the  New  Testament.  Reading  these  letters 
at  the  services  and  meetings  of  the  church,  reading  them 
just  as  the  Jews  of  the  synagogue  read  the  appointed 
selections  from  the  Old  Testament,  was  a  step  in  the 
direction  of  making  them  "canonical"  or  authoritative. 
They  were  already  beginning  to  be  looked  upon  as  sacred 
books.  It  was  only  a  question  of  time  until  other  books 
were  added  to  the  collection,  and  the  whole  group  looked 
upon  as  of  equal  value  to  the  Greek  Old  Testament,  the 
sacred  collection  taken  over  by  the  Christians  from  the 
Jews.     But   the  beginning,   we   must   remember,   was 


250    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

probably  made  when  Paul's  friends  and  devoted  fol- 
lowers gathered  together,  perhaps  even  before  his  death, 
such  of  his  letters  as  they  came  across  or  could  discover 
in  the  churches  to  which  the  great  apostle  wrote. 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  GOSPELS 

In  some  such  way,  without  intending  to  write  or  to 
collect  a  Bible  (^ 'Bible"  is  from  biblia,  which  means 
"books"),  the  other  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament  were 
produced  and  preserved,  some  without  even  the  names  of 
their  authors  (for  example,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews). 

Other  epistles  were  written,  like  those  of  Clement, 
Ignatius,  and  Polycarp;  but  these  were  omitted  from 
our  New  Testament  for  the  reason  that  they  were  later 
in  date  and  not  written  by  apostles — -and,  in  fact,  do 
not  as  a  rule  stand  on  so  high  a  plane  as  the  letters  of 
the  first  century.  What  we  should  remember,  though, 
is  that  for  the  most  part  the  early  Christian  literature 
was  ''epistolary"  in  form.  Letters  were  the  chief  and 
almost  the  only  way  in  which  the  early  churches  could 
keep  in  touch  with  one  another.  Even  when  messengers 
were  sent  from  church  to  church,  they  usually  carried 
written  messages  of  encouragement,  exhortation,  and 
friendly  gieeting. 

The  earliest  Gospels. — But  the  time  came  when  the 
"eyewitnesses  and  ministers  of  the  word"  (Luke  i :  2) 
fell  asleep — the  early  Christian  word  for  "death" — or 
laid  down  their  lives  as  martyrs.  It  therefore  became 
necessary  to  commit  to  writing  their  accounts  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  and  the  early  days  of  the  church  in  Palestine. 
Farther  and  farther  across  the  empire  spread  the  mes- 
sage of  the  gospel.  Men  who  had  never  heard  of  Jesus 
save  from  the  Christian  missionaries — men  Kke  The- 
ophilus,  the  friend  of  Luke,  to  whom  he  dedicated  his 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT    251 

Gospel  and  Acts  (Luke  i :  1-4,  Acts  i :  1-2) — were 
anxious  to  know  more  about  the  Lord  than  they  could 
learn  from  the  missionaries. 

Moreover,  the  return  of  Christ  was  delayed  longer 
than  the  first  believers  anticipated,  and  there  was  need 
to  commit  to  writing  the  oral  accounts  of  his  earthly  life 
and  teaching  lest  these  should  perish  and  be  forgotten 
with  the  death  of  the  first  generation  of  his  followers. 
This  need  was  first  felt  some  time  just  before  or  after  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  written 
accounts  were  prepared,  in  more  and  more  complete 
form,  of  ''all  things  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and  to 
teach,  until  the  day  he  was  received  up." 

"The  Sayings  of  Jesus/' — ^The  earliest  of  these 
documents,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  one  which  to-day  is 
found  only  in  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  as  one 
of  their  "sources."  It  was  a  collection  of  Jesus'  sayings^ 
mainly,  sayings  Hke  those  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
the  parables,  the  admonitions  and  commands  given  to  the 
disciples,  the  pubhc  and  private  teaching  of  the  Master. 

The  way  in  which  this  document  may  be  discovered 
in  the  pages  of  our  first  and  third  Gospels  is  mteresting. 
Matthew  and  Luke,  as  we  know  to-day,  used  the  Gospel 
of  Mark  as  their  basic  narrative,  rearranging  it,  "editmg" 
and  revising  it,  inserting  into  it  other  material  for  the 
sake  of  completeness.  If  this  other  material,  which  they 
added  to  Mark,  be  studied  by  itself  very  carefully,  it 
will  be  seen  that  much  of  it  is  found  ahnost  word  for 
word  in  identical  form  in  both  these  later  Gospels.  And 
if  the  methods  of  composition,  style  and  diction,  interests 
and  aims  of  Matthew  and  Luke  are  examined,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  differences  in  their  treatment  of  this  ma- 
terial are  practically  the  same  as  their  differences  in 
treating  Mark.    Discount  these  differences,  and  we  find 


-252    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

a  unified  and  homogeneous  document  which  was  their 
chief  source,  in  addition  to  Mark,  for  the  teaching  and 
sayings  of  our  Lord.  This  document  is  commonly  known 
to-day  as  "The  Sayings  of  Jesus,"  though  scholars 
usually  prefer  to  use  an  algebraic  symbol  for  it,  "Q'^ 
(which  stands  for  Quelle,  the  German  word  for  "source"). 

This  document,  our  earliest  written  "Gospel,"  was 
composed  some  time,  perhaps,  in  the  fifties  or  sixties  of 
the  first  century,  probably  in  Palestine,  and  perhaps 
even  in  Jerusalem.  Most  probably  it  was  for  the  use  of 
missionaries  and  teachers  of  the  gospel,  for  it  was  written 
in  Greek,  and  was  meant  for  those  who  had  no  adequate 
oral  account  of  the  words  and  teachings  of  Christ. 

Mark's  Gospel. — The  next  Gospel,  in  order  of  com- 
position, was  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  which  gives  more  of 
the  narrative  of  Jesus'  life,  an  outline  of  his  ministry, 
and  an  account  of  the  trial  and  passion  and  resurrection. 
Tradition  says  that  Mark  wrote  it  in  Rome  after  Peter's 
death,  remembering  as  carefully  as  he  could  all  that 
Peter  had  related  of  the  Master's  life — ^Mark  had  been 
Peter's  "interpreter"  and  companion,  as  he  had  once 
been  for  a  short  time  the  companion  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  His  object  was  to  show  that  our  Lord  was 
Messiah  e\en  in  his  earthly  Kfe,  just  as  truly  as  he  was 
after  the  ascension.  Therefore  he  gives  the  accounts  of 
the  miracles,  as  proofs  of  divine  power,  and  the  cries  of 
the  demons  who  recognized  him  as  the  Son  of  God.  The 
last  page  of  Mark  (or  column,  on  a  scroll)  has  been  lost, 
our  oldest  manuscripts  breaking  off  with  a  preposition 
in  verse  8  of  chapter  i6.  The  present  conclusion  was 
added  later,  and  is  merely  a  summary  of  what  was  found 
in  the  other  Gospels. 

The  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke. — Matthew 
and  Luke  are  in  a  sense  revisions  of  Mark,  with  which 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT    253 

each  has  combined  in  his  own  fashion  the  material  found 
in  the  ^'Sayings"  and  elsewhere.  "Matthew's"  object 
was  to  group  about  several  great  topics  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  and  the  narrative  of  his  life,  such  as  the  exposition 
of  the  Law  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  the  dis- 
course of  our  Lord  at  the  sending  out  of  the  Twelve;  he 
had  in  mind  as  he  wrote  the  needs  of  the  church  at  his 
own  time,  the  questions  and  problems  which  arose  be- 
fore it,  and  he  was  intensely  interested  in  the  coming  of 
the  Kingdom,  which  he  pictured  in  very  Uteral  fashion. 
He  was  a  Jew,  and  wrote  for  Jews,  both  Christian  and 
non-Christian,  frequently  quoting  the  Old  Testament, 
and  proving  from  its  predictions  that  Jesus  was  indeed 
the  promised  Messiah. 

Luke  aimed  at  the  instruction  and  confirmation  in  his 
faith,  through  historical  investigation,  of  the  friend  to 
whom  he  addressed  his  two  writings.  Luke's  method 
was  to  search  out  the  best  traditions  and  documents  and 
arrange  these  in  the  most  probable  order.  It  is  to  his 
diligent  and  loving  research  that  we  owe  the  beautiful 
and  precious  account  of  the  infancy  and  early  years  of 
Jesus  given  in  his  first  two  chapters,  and  also  some  of 
the  most  important  incidents  and  greatest  parables  in 
the  life  of  Christ. 

The  Fourth  Gospel. — The  Gospel  of  John,  as  it  has 
been  known  for  centuries,  is  the  last  of  our  New-Testa- 
ment Gospels.  It  is  not  so  much  a  narrative  of  Jesus* 
Hfe  and  teaching  as  an  interpretation  and  defense  of 
Christianity,  of  Christ,  of  Christ's  meaning  for  all 
mankind.  It  was  intended  to  offset  the  attacks  of  Jewish 
critics  about  the  end  of  the  first  century  and  to  show 
that  Jesus  was  the  Word,  or  "Logos,"  of  God:  the  one 
who  was  with  God  from  all  eternity  and  at  last  mani- 
fested him  to  men  by  becoming  incarnate  and  taking 


254     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

human  flesh.  This  is  a  great  mystical  and  theological 
concept,  and  it  is  illustrated  from  traditions  of  the  hfe 
of  Christ  which  were  accessible  to  the  author  but  not 
found,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  three  "synoptic"  Gos- 
pels. He  treats  the  miracles  as  "signs,"  as  seven  great 
symbolic  manifestations  of  divine,  supernatural  power 
and  love.  It  is  not  a  Gospel  in  the  same  sense  as  the 
other  three;  it  does  not  make  so  much  of  historical 
narration;  it  aims  to  prove  the  truth  of  a  majestic, 
sublime  idea,  which  was  already  a  part  of  the  church's 
faith;  it  was  written  "that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing  ye  may 
have  life  in  his  name"  (John  20:31) — and  so  it  is  a 
Gospel  in  an  even  higher  sense  than  the  other  three. 

The  New  Testament's  permanent  value. — Thus 
came  into  existence,  in  the  course  of  fifty  years  or  more 
of  persecution,  opposition,  and  triumphant  advance  in 
the  face  of  all  attacks,  a  book,  or  collection  of  books, 
which  is  almost  the  only  Christian  record  we  possess  of 
those  precious  years,  and  of  the  still  more  precious  years 
of  the  life  and  ministry  of  Jesus,  his  passion  and  resur- 
rection, the  founding  of  the  church  in  Palestine,  and  its 
spread  throughout  the  eastern  half  of  the  Roman  world 
until  it  entered  the  gates  of  the  eternal  city  itself.  We 
see  it  at  the  very  beginning  of  its  long  task  of  "leavening, 
till  the  whole  lump  be  leavened,"  the  customs,  manners, 
institutions,  ideals,  motives,  hearts,  and  minds  of  men. 
No  age  has  seen  a  purer  form  of  Christianity  than  that 
first  faith  of  the  early  apostles,  martyrs,  and  evangeKsts. 
As  we  read  their  writings,  and  learn  through  them  to 
know  and  worship  and  obey  the  Master  whom  they 
loved  and  followed,  the  prayer  rises  to  our  lips, 
"0  God,  to  us  may  grace  be  given 
To  follow  in  their  train!" 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT    255 

We  discover  the  permanent  value  of  the  New  Testament 
when  we  learn  to  use  it,  and  to  find  in  it  God's  Word  to 
each  of  us  in  our  own  Hves,  and  to  his  church,  still 
waging  the  warfare  of  faith  in  his  name. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Which  were  the  earliest  writings  of  the  New  Testa- 

ment, and  why? 

2.  Explain  why  the  records  of  the  rise  of  the  Christian 

religion  are  scanty  and  fragmentary.  Give  three 
reasons. 

3.  Look  up  some  of  the  papyrus  letters,  bills,  etc.,  which 

illustrate  the  "common"  Greek  spoken  by  the  mass 
of  the  people  in  the  first  century.  See  Deissmann, 
Light  from  the  Ancient  East,  or  Milligan,  Selections 
from  the  Papyri. 

4.  What  first  led  to  the  collection  of  the  New  Testament 

writings?  What  part  had  Paul's  Epistles  in  this 
process  ? 

5.  Describe  the  growth  of  the  Gospels,  and  explain  how 

one  of  their  earlier  sources  is  foimd. 

6.  Read  some  of  the  following  passages  from  the  docu- 

ment called  **Q":  Luke  9:  57-60;  10:  2-16;  11:  9-13; 
12:  22-31;  13:  18-21;  14:  16-23.  Are  any  of  these 
passages  found  in  Mark?  (What  is  the  significance 
of  this  question?) 

7.  Read  over  Mark  i :  16  to  3 :  19  and  mark  the  passages 

which  you  think  most  like  reminiscences  which  Peter 
would  relate.  What  bearing  has  this  upon  the  tra- 
ditional origin  of  our  second  Gospel? 

8.  How  does  the  fourth  Gospel  differ  from  the  other  three? 

9.  If  the  New  Testament  is  almost  our  only  record  of 

the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  how  ought  Chris- 
tians to  regard  it?  Have  you  a  plan  for  regular 
Bible  reading? 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  BLOOD  OF  THE  MARTYRS 

After  the  close  of  the  first  century  the  next  record 
of  the  spread  of  Christianity  is  found  not  in  any  Chris- 
tian writing  but  in  the  letters  of  a  Roman  governor 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  Trajan.  Like  many  that  have 
gone  before,  it  also  is  a  record  of  persecution.  Pliny 
the  Younger,  as  he  is  called  (to  distinguish  him  from  the 
Elder  Pliny,  who  was  a  writer  of  natural  history),  was 
sent  in  the  year  1 1 1  or  112  to  administer  the  fertile  and 
populous  province  of  Bithynia.  This  province  lay  in 
northwestern  Asia  Minor,  on  the  shores  of  Propontis 
(Marmora)  and  the  Black  Sea,  and  had  suffered  much 
from  the  lax  and  extravagant  mismanagement  of  earlier 
proconsuls.  Pliny  w^as  given  the  powers  of  imperial  legate, 
and  his  first  duty  was  to  bring  a  bankrupt  province 
back  to  prosperity,  and  incidentally  to  tighten  the  reins 
of  Roman  control  over  its  affairs  through  the  better 
administration  of  justice  and  the  suppression  of  disloyal 
secret  societies. 

CHRISTIANITY  IN  BITHYNIA 

Here  Pliny  found  a  large  number  of  guilds  or  clubs 
(collegia) — we  might  call  them  *  lodges"  to-day — which 
existed  to  advance  the  interests  of  their  members.  Some 
of  them  were  like  modern  trade-unions;  each  member 
was  assessed  a  certain  amount,  meetings  were  held  once 
a  month,  the  poorer  members  or  those  out  of  work  were 
given  benefits  or  relief,  and  their  funeral  expenses  were 
paid  from  the  common  fund.  Such  guilds  were  to  be 
found  throughout  the  empire,  although  they  had  been 
severely  restricted  by  a  decree  of  the  Senate  in  the  time 

256 


THE  BLOOD  OF  THE  MARTYRS  257 

of  Augustus,  requiring  them  to  hold  their  meetings  in 
public,  not  oftener  than  once  a  month,  and  then  only 
after  they  had  received  a  special  hcense  from  the 
authorities.  The  danger  of  such  associations  was  that 
they  easily  became  centers  of  poUtical  unrest. 

The  church  as  a  trade-guild. — One  of  the  first  acts 
of  Pliny,  following  instructions  from  the  Emperor,  was 
to  issue  an  order  for  the  suppression  of  all  guilds  and 
clubs.  At  once  this  brought  up  the  problem  of  dealing 
with  the  Christian  Church,  which  resembled  in  some 
ways  the  prohibited  collegia.  The  problem  was  com- 
plicated by  certain  industrial  conditions  of  the  province 
which  Pliny  had  undertaken  to  remedy  and  which  had 
been  seriously  affected  by  the  spread  of  the  new  religion. 
As  he  traveled  about  Bithynia  he  had  been  astonished 
to  find  the  temples  almost  deserted,  the  old-fashioned 
worship  nearly  abandoned,  and  the  trade  in  animals  for 
sacrifice  waning.  The  reason  was,  he  learned,  that  the 
province  swarmed  with  Christians!  Here  was  new  and 
unexpected  trouble  on  his  hands. 

At  what  date  Christianity  spread  into  Bithynia,  we 
do  not  know.^  Perhaps  it  was  a  result  of  the  active 
missionary  work  of  the  church  in  the  province  of  Asia, 
or  possibly  it  had  come  up  along  the  trade-route  from 
Galatia,  or  even  crossed  from  Philippi  or  Thessalonica 
in  the  west.  Whenever  and  however  founded,  by  the 
year  112  there  were  Christians  enough  in  the  province 
to  imperil  the  ancient  trade  in  sacrificial  animals,  and 
rouse  the  opposition  of  those  who  depended  upon  it  for 
their  livelihood.  Just  as  Christianity  had  been  opposed 
in  Ephesus  by  those  whose  trade  it  affected,  so  here  also 
its  influence  had  become  apparent  in  a  striking  and 
public  manner,  and  was  opposed  for  its  injury  to  business. 

*  The  Christians  there  were  addressed  in  the  Epistle  known  as  First  Peter. 


258    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  governor's  perplexity. — ^At  this  juncture  m- 
formers  {delatores)  came  forward  with  accusations 
against  the  Christians.  Pliny  summoned  the  accused  to 
appear  before  him  and  questioned  them  about  their 
membership  in  an  ilHcit  organization.  Some  denied  this; 
others  confessed.  Those  who  confessed  he  questioned  a 
second  and  even  a  third  time  with  threats  of  punishment. 
''Those  who  persisted/'  he  says  in  one  of  his  letters,  "I 
sent  to  execution;  for  I  had  no  doubt  that,  whatever  it 
was  they  admitted,  contumacy  and  stubborn  obstinacy 
ought  not  to  go  unpunished.'' 

This  was  plain  tyranny,  though  Trajan  might— and 
did — approve;  but  the  matter  did  not  end  here.  Shortly 
afterward  an  unsigned  paper  was  posted  in  a  public 
place  containing  a  long  Hst  of  persons  alleged  to  be 
Christians.  Instead  of  ignoring  this  list,  Pliny  took  the 
illegal  step  of  searching  out  those  thus  anonymously 
accused  and  brought  them  to  trial.  By  this  time  he  knew 
more  about  Christianity  and  realized  that  it  was  a 
religion,  not  a  trade-guild,  with  which  he  was  con- 
fronted. He  adopted  three  severe  tests  of  their  loyalty 
to  the  Roman  religion  and  state;  they  were  to  repeat 
after  him  a  prayer  addressed  to  the  gods,  to  burn  incense 
in  sacrifice,  and  make  a  libation;  they  were  to  adore, 
with  sacrificial  incense  and  wine,  the  statue  of  the 
Emperor;  and  they  were  finally  to  pronounce  a  curse 
upon  Christ.  Refusal  of  the  first  branded  one  an  atheist, 
in  pagan  eyes;  refusal  of  the  second  was  treason;  refusal 
of  the  third  proclaimed  the  atheist  and  traitor  as  a 
Christian.  Some  of  those  accused  asserted  that  they 
had  never  been,  or  had  long  ceased  to  be,  followers  of 
this  faith.     Others  refused  firmly  to  recant. 

It  now  occurred  to  Pliny  to  inquire  what  this  religion 
amounted   to,   which   could    inspire    such   ardent  and 


THE  BLOOD  OF  THE   MARTYRS         259 

heroic  loyalty,  and  what  were  the  crimes  it  led  to  and 
justified.  To  his  surprise,  as  he  wrote  in  a  letter  to 
Trajan,  there  was  no  crime  at  all — 

"They  maintained  that  the  extent  of  their  crime 
is  this,  that  on  a  fixed  day  they  meet  before  daylight 
and  sing  by  turns  a  hjrmn  to  Christ  as  God  (carmen 
Christo  quasi  Deo);  and  bind  themselves  with  an 
oath  (sacramentum) — ^not  for  the  conunission  of  a 
crime,  but — ^not  to  commit  theft  or  robbery  or  adul- 
tery, not  to  break  their  word,  nor  to  deny  a  deposit 
when  claimed.  After  this  it  is  their  custom  to  de- 
part and  meet  again  for  the  purpose  of  taking  food — 
common  and  innocent  food  (not  human  flesh,  as  has 
been  alleged);  and  even  this  they  ceased  doing 
after  my  edict  was  issued  forbidding  clubs,  accord- 
ing to  your  instructions." — Pliny,  Epistle  97. 

Trajan's  rescript. — In  order  to  find  out  if  this  testi- 
mony were  really  true,  Pliny  ordered  two  Christian 
slave- women  tortured;  but  they  only  afiirmed  what  had 
already  been  said,  and  so  the  governor  concluded  that 
Christianity  was  nothing  more  than  "a  baneful  and 
absurd  superstition."  He  could  not  very  well  go  on 
trying  Christians  for  their  belief,  since  it  seemed  poUti- 
cally  harmless,  and  especially  as  the  Christians  included 
a  large  part  of  the  population  of  the  province.  So  he 
wrote  to  the  Emperor  for  directions,  in  the  letter  just 
quoted,  and  received  in  reply  Trajan's  answer,  or 
rescript: 

"You  have  adopted,  my  dear  Secundus,  exactly 
the  right  course  in  examining  the  cases  of  those 
denounced  to  you  as  Christians.  For,  indeed,  no 
general  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  a  fixed  form  of 
procedure.    They  must  not  be  sought  out;  but  if 


26o     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

they  are  denounced  and  convicted,  they  must  be 
punished,  unless  anyone  who  denies  he  is  a  Chris- 
tian proves  it  by  adoring  the  gods;  however  sus- 
picious his  conduct  may  have  been,  he  shall  earn 
pardon  by  repentance.  But  anonymous  posters 
ought  not  to  be  regarded  in  the  case  of  any  crime; 
for  that  would  set  a  very  bad  example,  unworthy  of 
our  times." — ^Pliny,  Epistle  98. 

It  is  evident  that  Trajan  was  anxious  to  suppress  the 
activities  of  anonymous  and  irresponsible  informers. 
This  was  a  measure  of  safety  for  the  persecuted  Chris- 
tians. But  it  is  also  evident  that  the  Roman  authorities 
had  no  intention  of  compromising  with  a  faith  which 
denied  the  gods  and  refused  a  simple  and  complacent 
rite  of  loyalty  to  the  imperial  authority.  It  was  only  a 
step  from  this  to  the  persecution  of  Christianity  as  a 
religion. 

IGNATIUS  OF  ANTIOCH 

About  this  time,  or  perhaps  a  little  later,  an  attack 
was  made  upon  the  church  in  Antioch  in  Syria.  Chris- 
tianity had  been  established  there  for  sixty  years  or 
more — two  generations — so  that  many  of  the  faithful 
had  been  followers  of  Christ  all  their  lives  long.  And 
the  church  was,  of  course,  large  in  numbers  to  provoke 
the  opposition  that  arose. 

Condemned  to  the  lions. — It  is  not  said  what  occa- 
sioned the  persecution.  It  may  have  been  the  disastrous 
earthquake  which  destroyed  part  of  the  city  in  115  (if 
the  date  of  the  persecution  is  that  late) ;  such  calamities 
were  often  attributed  to  the  wrath  of  the  gods  against 
believers  in  alien  religions,  who  were  robbing  the  local 
deity  of  his  lawful  worship  and  offerings.  Antioch  was 
a  city  of  polyglot  population,  divided  by  factions  and 


THE  BLOOD  OF  THE   MARTYRS         261 

parties,  and  alarmed  at  that  time  by  the  threatened 
approach  of  the  Parthians.  However  the  persecution 
began,  it  led  to  the  arrest  and  condemnation  of  the 
bishop,  Ignatius,  before  the  Roman  legate.  He  was 
sentenced  to  be  conducted  to  Rome  and  there  thrown 
to  the  beasts  in  the  arena. 

On  the  way  to  Rome. — Soon  began  his  long,  slow 
journey  overland  to  Troas,  guarded  by  miUtary  escorts 
and  accompanied,  like  Saint  Paul  on  his  way  to  Rome, 
by  friends  and  companions.  At  Philadelphia,  Smyrna, 
Troas,  delegations  from  the  nearby  churches  visited  him, 
fondly  kissing  his  chains  in  token  of  their  homage;  and 
he  wrote  to  the  congregations  they  represented  the  brief 
letters  of  greeting  and  exhortation  and  counsel  which 
still  survive.  One  of  these  is  his  epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
whose  bishop,  Onesimus,  had  come  to  Smyrna  to  visit 
him.^    It  begins  as  follows: 

"Ignatius,  who  is  also  called  Theophorus,  to  the 
church  which  is  at  Ephesus  in  Asia,  most  deservedly 
happy,  being  blessed  through  the  greatness  and  full- 
ness of  God  the  Father,  and  predestinated  before 
the  world  began  to  an  enduring  and  unchangeable 
glory,  being  united  and  chosen  through  his  true 
passion,  according  to  the  will  of  the  Father  and 
Jesus  Christ  our  God:  All  happiness,  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  his  undefiled  grace !"— Ignatius,  Ephe- 
sians i:  I. 

No  sad  and  melancholy  greeting,  this,  for  a  man  on  his 
way  to  the  lions!  An  exuberant  joy  and  intense  devotion 
has  obHterated,  for  Ignatius,  all  thought  of  his  own  fate. 
The  spirit  of  the  martyr  comes  out  toward  the  end  of 
this  letter,  where  he  wishes  that  his  life  may  be  laid 

1  Was  this  the  Onesimus  for  whom  Paul  wrote  the  note  to  Philemon? 


262     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

down  for  his  readers — ''my  soul  be  for  yours" — and  in 
the  passage  where  he  writes, 

"Pray  also  without  ceasing  for  other  men;  for 
there  is  hope  of  their  repentance  and  attaining  unto 
God.  Let  them  therefore  at  least  be  instructed  by 
your  works,  if  they  will  be  no  other  way  (i.  e.,  by 
words).  Be  mild  at  their  anger,  humble  at  their 
boasting;  to  their  blasphemies,  return  your  prayers; 
to  their  error,  your  firmness  of  faith;  when  they  are 
cruel,  be  gentle,  not  endeavoring  to  imitate  their 
ways.  Let  us  be  their  brethren  in  all  kindness  and 
moderation,  but  let  us  be  followers  of  the  Lord: 
for  who  was  ever  more  unjustly  used?  more  destitute? 
more  despised? — so  that  no  root  of  wickedness  may 
be  found  in  you,  but  that  ye  may  remain  in  all  holi- 
ness and  sobriety  of  body  and  spirit,  in  Christ  Jesus." 
— ^Ignatius,  Ephesians  lo. 

Is  not  this  the  very  spirit  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  of  the  Master  "who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled 
not  again"? 

From  Troas,  the  guard  took  passage  across  to  Neapolis, 
thence  conducting  their  prisoner  to  Philippi  on  the  Via 
Egnatia  across  the  Balkans.  Here  two  other  martyrs, 
Zosimus  and  Rufus,  were  handed  over  to  the  escort,  and 
the  Christians  of  the  city  displayed  to  Ignatius  and  his 
companions  the  same  love  and  generosity  which  they 
had  shown  in  the  old  days  to  Saint  Paul,  regarding  the 
chains  of  the  martyrs  as  "the  very  'diadems  of  the 
elect.' ''  At  Ignatius'  request,  they  wrote  to  Polycarp, 
Bishop  of  Smyrna,  begging  him  to  forward  their  letter 
to  the  church  in  Antioch;  thay  also  asked  him  to  send 
them  copies  of  such  letters  of  Ignatius  as  he  possessed. 

His  death. — ^After  this  we  hear  no  more  of  the 
martyr.    He  doubtless  perished  in  the  arena  at  Rome, 


THE  BLOOD  OF  THE   MARTYRS         263 

the  church  commemorating  his  martyrdom  on  February 
I,  though  his  death  was  perhaps  in  October.  We  see 
him  for  only  a  brief  interval,  as  he  makes  his  way  across 
the  strongly  Christian  province  of  Asia,  chained  to  his 
guard,  exulting  in  spirit,  forgiving  his  persecutors,  glad 
to  die  for  Christ  and  in  the  place  of  his  fellow  Christians, 
a  truly  heroic  and  Christ-inspired  man. 

POLYCARP  OF  SMYRNA 

Forty  years  later,  on  the  23d  of  February,  155  A.  D., 
Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  Ignatius'  friend  and 
visitor  during  his  stay  in  that  city,  laid  down  his  life 
also  as  a  martyr. 

"Away  with  the  atheists." — It  was  during  a  popular 
spectacle  and  celebration  at  Smyrna,  when  dignitaries 
were  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  province  for  w^orship, 
business,  and  amusement,  the  latter  including  venationes, 
or  wild-beast  shows.  The  origin  of  the  disturbance  is  not 
known,  though  it  reached  at  least  as  far  as  Philadelphia, 
and  eleven  victims  had  already  given  their  lives  in 
Smyrna  before  Polycarp  was  taken.  It  is  said  that  they 
were  severely  tortured  in  order  to  force  them  to  recant — 
a  new  method  of  persecution,  and  one  which  the  imperial 
rescripts,  so  far  as  we  know  them,  did  not  authorize. 

As  these  eleven  brave  witnesses  sealed  their  testimony 
to  Christ  in  their  own  blood,  the  fury  and  madness  of 
the  mob  rose  to  high  pitch.  The  arena  rang  with  cries: 
*'Away  with  the  atheists!  Bring  Polycarp  here,  their 
bishop  and  leader!"  The  proconsul,  Quadratus,  totally 
ignoring  the  principles  and  rules  of  procedure  laid  down 
by  the  emperors,  sent  his  captain  of  pohce  to  arrest  the 
bishop.  Polycarp,  who  was  now  an  old  man,  had  already 
been  hidden  by  his  friends  in  a  farmhouse  outside  the 
city,  and  might  have  remained  in  safety  had  not  one 


264    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

of  his  slaves  been  seized  and  tortured  till  he  revealed 
his  master's  hiding-place.  Poly  carp  refused  to  attempt 
further  flight,  and  yielded,  saying,  "God's  wiU  be  done." 

Though  the  hour  was  late,  he  was  hurried  back  to 
the  city  and  led  into  the  stadium.  Soon  the  mob 
gathered,  and  Quadratus  hastened  to  hold  the  trial. 
''Swear  by  the  genius  of  Caesar,"  ordered  the  proconsul, 
''repent,  and  say,  'Away  with  the  atheists  [that  is,  the 
Christians].'  "  Lifting  his  hand  solemnly,  as  if  to  swear, 
the  aged  bishop  rephed,  "Away  with  the  atheists  [that 
is,  the  real  atheists,  not  the  Christians]."  "Swear,"  said 
Quadratus,  "and  I  will  let  you  go.  Curse  Christ!"  But 
Polycarp  rephed,  "Eighty  and  six  years  have  I  served 
him,  and  he  never  did  me  wrong;  how  can  I  blaspheme 
my  King  who  saved  me?" 

Polycarp's  death. — Hereupon  the  mob  cried  out  to 
cast  Polycarp  to  the  Hons.  But  this  the  Asiarch  forbade, 
since  the  days  of  the  venationes  were  now  past.  Then  the 
mob  demanded  that  Polycarp  should  be  burned  alive. 
Without  waiting  for  permission,  men  hastened  to  gather 
wood  for  fuel,  the  helpless  old  man  was  tied  to  a  stake,  the 
fire  lighted,  and — the  flames  being  too  slow  in  reaching 
him — the  executioner  was  called  to  slay  him  with  a  sword. 

Thus  perished  one  of  the  noblest  Christians  of  the 
second  century,  one  whose  witness  for  Christ  and  whose 
teaching  were  impressed  upon  a  large  body  of  friends 
and  disciples;  one  of  whom  the  Christian  history  of 
that  century  is  full,  and  whose  "testimony"  at  the  stake 
was  the  crown  of  a  long  Hfe  of  witnessing  for  his  Lord. 
His  death  was  not  the  result  of  legal  process  but  of  the 
blind  fanaticism  of  an  infuriated  mob.  His  "trial"  was 
as  infamous  and  unjust  as  that  at  which  our  Lord  was 
condemned;  it  was  only  semilegalized  murder. 

Yet  neither  martyrdom  nor  the  base  perversions  of 


THE  BLOOD  OF  THE   MARTYRS         265 

justice  nor  the  outbursts  of  ignorant  fanaticism  were 
enough  to  daunt  the  courage  of  the  Christians  or  stay 
the  victorious  onward  march  of  their  faith.  Since  the 
days  of  "Antipas,  the  faithful  witness,"  at  Pergamum 
(Revelation  2:13),  the  first  martyr  of  the  church  in 
Asia,  it  had  been  true  that  "the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
was  the  seed  of  the  church."  It  was  still  to  be  true  for 
many  years  to  come.  And  it  has  been  true  ever  since, 
in  every  country  where  the  gospel  has  been  preached 
and  in  every  age  of  the  church's  long  life. 
STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Look  up  the  province  of  Bithynia  on  a  map  of  Asia 

Minor  or  the  Roman  Empire.  What  were  its  chief 
cities?    Look  up  the  reference  to  First  Peter. 

2.  Who  was  Pliny  the  Yoimger?    Look  him  up  in  your 

ancient  history  or  the  encyclopedia. 

3.  What  was  the  opposition  to  Christianity  in  Ephesus, 

referred  to  above?  See  Chapter  18,  or  Acts  19.  Ex- 
plain how  the  opposition  arose  in  Bithynia. 

4.  When   was    Christianity   founded   in   Antioch?      See 

Chapter  11,  or  Acts  11.  What  great  names  were 
already  connected  with  the  history  of  its  church? 

5.  Who  was  Onesimus,  for  whose  sake  Paul  wrote  a  letter? 

6.  Trace  on  the  map  that  part  of  Ignatius'  journey  to 

Rome  which  his  letters  reveal  to  us.  What  was  its 
probable  continuation? 

7.  Compare  the  procedure  of  Pliny  in  trying  Christians 

with  that  of  Quadratus  in  Smyrna  at  the  trial  of 
Polycarp.  Note  what  seem  to  you  injustices  in  the 
process,  and  find  out  if  you  can  whether  or  not 
these  were  in  accordance  with  Roman  law. 

8.  How  do  you  account  for  the  bitter  hatred  of  the  Chris- 

tians by  their  persecutors? 

9.  How  did  Ignatius  manifest  the  spirit  of  Christ?    Can 

you  recall  words  or  deeds  of  Jesus  which  may  have 
inspired  Ignatius? 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
TWO  CENTURIES  OF  GROWTH 

We  enter  now  what  has  been  called  the  "subterranean 
period"  in  the  church's  history.  The  records  become 
even  more  scanty,  though  writings  of  other  than  his- 
torical purpose,  especially  apologies,  epistles,  theo- 
logical works,  continued  to  be  produced  in  increasing 
number.  It  was  the  age  of  the  great  persecutions.  It 
was  the  age  of  the  catacombs.  It  was  the  period  of  slow, 
silent,  secret  growth  in  which  the  hidden  force  of  Chris- 
tianity gradually  undermined  the  prejudice  and 
fanaticism  of  the  pagan  world.  When  it  emerged,  in  the 
time  of  Constantine,  its  victory  was  sudden  and  almost 
complete,  so  effectively  had  its  work  been  accompHshed 
during  the  two  preceding  centuries,  so  widely  had  it 
succeeded  in  leavening  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  men. 

Gradual  expansion  of  the  church. — Very  largely  the 
growth  of  the  church  in  this  period  has  to  be  inferred 
from  its  extent  at  the  end  of  the  third  century.  It 
began  as  a  sect  or  cult  outside  the  pale  of  legal  tolera- 
tion, numerically  a  minority,  subject  to  the  attacks  of 
self-interested  informers,  and  liable  to  the  penalties  of 
the  law  against  secret  organizations.  It  continued  as  a 
suspected  and  defamed  society;  successive  efforts  were 
made  to  stamp  it  out,  more  than  once  with  the  full 
force  of  imperial  approval;  and  yet  it  continued  to  grow, 
like  the  seed  in  the  parable,  "night  and  day,  of  its  own 
accord,  no  one  knows  how."  Even  by  the  middle  of 
the  second  century,  Tertullian,  the  African  lawyer  and 
advocate  of  Christianity,  could  say, 

266 


TWO  CENTURIES  OF  GROWTH  267 

"We  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  we  have  filled  your 
cities,  your  islands,  your  stations,  your  country  towns 
and  settlements,  your  council  chambers,  your  very 
camp,  your  palace,  your  Senate,  your  bar.  We 
have  left  you  only  your  temples.  We  can  count 
your  armies:  the  Christians  of  a  single  province 
exceed  them  in  number." — ^Tertullian,  Apology  37. 

The  day  was  coming,  inside  a  very  few  generations, 
when  Christianity  would  be  either  sufficiently  in  the 
majority,  or  at  least  a  strong  enough  minority,  not  only 
to  free  itself  from  persecution  but  to  become  the  estab- 
lished religion  of  the  empire.  Surely  this  was  a  marvelous 
growth  for  two  hundred  years! 

CHRISTIANITY  FROM  HADRIAN  TO  DIOCLETIAN 

Brief  and  fragmentary  as  are  the  sources  for  this 
period,  their  variety  and  interest  is  very  great.  We  have 
more  and  more  frequent  notices  of  Christianity  from 
now  on  in  the  works  of  pagan  writers.  Lucian  the 
satirist,  Celsus  the  teacher  of  philosophy,  Galen  the 
medical  writer  combat  it  in  their  various  ways,  by  satire, 
by  serious  argmnent,  by  pohte  tolerance  and  explanation 
of  its  strange  behefs.  Christian  writers  appeared,  who 
undertook  both  to  refute  the  charges  brought  against 
their  reHgion  and  to  expound  its  tenets  in  a  way  suited 
to  convince  or  at  least  win  the  toleration  of  the  re- 
sponsible and  educated  classes  in  the  empire.  Letters 
were  written,  like  the  one  from  the  churches  in  Vienne 
and  Lyons  (in  Gaul)  recounting  the  persecution  there  in 
the  year  177.  All  these  supply  us  with  information, 
scanty  as  it  is,  for  our  period. 

The  catacombs. — ^And  all  along,  through  these  dark 
decades,  as  a  background  which  makes  vivid  even  to- 


268    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

day  our  reading  of  the  short  and  simple  annals  of  the 
persecuted,  there  are  the  inscriptions  in  the  Roman 
catacombs — the  chilly,  stone  corridors  under  the  city 
where  the  Christians  held  their  forbidden  services, 
baptized  their  children,  partook  of  the  Eucharist,  and 
buried  their  dead.  The  faith  which  shines  in  the  dark- 
ness of  those  rock-hewn  chambers  is  brighter  than  any- 
thing in  the  world  outside.  No  pagans  ever  wrote  on 
their  tombs  such  epitaphs  as  these: 

ARETUSA  m  DEO 

— "Arethusa  rests  in  God";  or 

ALEXANDER  SUPER  ASTRAS 

— "Alexander  has  ascended  beyond  the  stars";  or  the 
tenderly  beautiful  one, 

EIRENE  IN  PACE 

— "Irene  is  in  peace";  Irene,  whose  very  name  means 
"peace,"  has  found  it  at  last,  freed  from  the  terrors  of 
the  tjn-ant  and  persecutor. 

Hadrian's  rescript. — ^Trajan's  successor  was  likewise 
a  soldier,  Hadrian,  one  of  the  best  emperors  Rome  ever 
enjoyed.  He  was  a  great  statesman  and  succeeded  in 
improving  the  methods  of  taxation— there  were  arrears 
of  over  $40,000,000  when  he  ascended  the  throne.  He 
was  determined,  moreover,  to  improve  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  and  do  away  with  some  of  the  barbarities 
still  permitted  by  the  law.  In  religion  he  was  one  who 
dabbled  in  various  cults,  and  therefore  might  be  expected 
to  tolerate  new  and  suspected  faiths,  including  Chris- 
tianity. We  are  not  surprised  to  read,  then,  in  a  work 
by  Eusebius,  the  early  church  historian,  that  "this  was 


TWO  CENTURIES  OF  GROWTH  269 

especially  a  time  in  which  the  doctrine  of  salvation  at- 
tained its  full  power  and  spread  among  all  men"  {The 
Preparation  for  the  Gospel  4:  17). 

Under  Trajan  individual  Christians  had  been  accused 
by  informers;  and  the  charge,  apparently,  referred  simply 
to  membership  in  a  secret  and  therefore  illegal  society. 
But  now  we  hear  of  popular  outbreaks,  Hke  the  one  in 
which  Polycarp  was  to  suffer,  when  the  mere  name  of 
Christian  was  enough  to  excite  a  mob  and  rouse  the 
utmost  fury  of  popular  hatred  and  violence.  The  chief 
trouble  took  place  in  Asia,  the  old  missionary  field  of 
Paul  and  ApoUos,  and  now  thickly  populated  with 
Christians.  The  proconsul  Granianus  wrote  to  Hadrian, 
as  Pliny  had  written  to  Trajan,  asking  for  directions  in 
dealing  with  the  victims  of  the  outbreak.  Hadrian 
replied,  after  a  time,  addressing  Fundanus,  who  was 
now  proconsul,  with  his  famous  rescript  in  which  he 
directed  that 

"If  the  people  of  the  province  are  able  to  main- 
tain their  charge  against  the  Christians  so  far  as  to 
answer  in  open  court,  they  must  adopt  this  simple 
method,  and  not  use  demands  and  mere  clamor. 
...  If  then,  anyone  accuses  them  and  proves  that 
they  act  in  any  way  contrary  to  the  law,  you  must 
give  decision  by  the  legal  method,  in  accordance 
with  the  gravity  of  the  offense.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  anyone  accuses  them  simply  as  an  informer  (for 
purposes  of  extortion),  see  that  you  punish  him 
with  due  regard  to  the  seriousness  of  the  case." — 
Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  History  4 :  9. 

Copies  of  the  rescript  were  sent  to  other  governors,  and 
it  supplied  a  rule  of  procedure  for  many  years,  even 
under  later  emperors.  Though  there  were  a  few  martyr- 
doms in  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  the  persecution  was  not 


270    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

so  violent  as  it  had  hitherto  been  and  was  to  become 
later  on. 

The  Antonines. — Hadrian  died  in  138  and  was 
succeeded  by  Antoninus  Pius,  and  he  in  turn,  in  161,  by 
his  adopted  son,  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus.  "The 
Antonines,"  as  they  are  known  to  history,  were  good 
emperors  in  many  ways,  faced  with  an  impossible  task, 
however,  on  account  of  the  economic  and  political 
conditions  within  their  empire  and  the  growing  bar- 
barian power  threatening  its  frontiers.  Marcus  found  a 
refuge  from  despair  in  the  study  of  Stoic  philosophy 
and  left  the  world  his  famous  meditations  entitled 
'To  Himself."  It  seems  strange  that  the  Christians 
were  persecuted  under  these  wise  and  gentle  rulers.  The 
reason  is  doubtless  that  in  their  view  the  empire  and 
its  interests  came  first,  and  any  movement  which  sug- 
gested a  divided  loyalty,  or  set  men's  minds  upon 
another  world  than  this,  or  required  allegiance  to  some 
unknown  spiritual  potentate,  naturally  appeared  to  be 
dangerous  and  to  deserve  stamping  out  at  all  costs. 

The  Thundering  Legion. — There  is  a  story  of  one  of 
the  legions  in  Marcus'  time,  the  Twelfth,  known  as  the 
"Thundering  Legion,"  which  legend  has  made  into  a 
wonderful  miracle.  Li  a  battle  with  the  savage  Germans 
and  Sarmatians  the  soldiers  were  nearly  overcome  with 
thirst.  The  Christians  in  the  army  prayed  to  Christ  in 
their  extremity  and  a  heavy  storm  broke.  The  soldiers 
caught  the  water  in  their  upturned  shields,  drank,  and 
sprang  forward  to  pursue  their  foes,  already  in  flight 
from  the  violent  lightning  and  thunder.  A  relief  on  the 
Antonine  column  still  shows  the  scene,  though  the  rain- 
fall is  credited  to  Jupiter  Pluvius,  the  Rain-giver.  Pagan 
historians,  on  the  other  hand,  assert  that  an  Egyptian 
soothsayer  produced   the   storm  by  magic.     But  the 


TWO  CENTURIES  OF  GROWTH  271 

Christians  believed,  for  many  centuries,  that  it  was  the 
divine  response  to  the  prayers  of  Christians  in  the  legion, 
which  it  may  indeed  have  been;  and  the  story  is  known 
as  the  "Legend  of  the  Thundering  Legion."  At  the  very 
least  it  indicates  that  Christianity  had  spread  into  the 
army,  even  into  the  Twelfth  Legion,  usually  stationed 
in  Cappadocia,  but  then  engaged  on  the  Danube  or 
Rhine.  Tertullian's  words,  ''We  have  filled  .  .  .  your 
very  camp,"  were  true.  The  Roman  army  became  first 
one  of  the  widest  fields  and  then  one  of  the  most 
effective  agencies  for  the  spread  of  Christianity. 

Later  emperors. — There  were  worse  emperors  after 
the  Antonines;  yet  for  twenty  years  after  Marcus  the 
Christians  enjoyed  peace.  No  fresh  persecutions  were 
begun,  and  the  old  animosity  was  in  the  way  of  dying 
out.  Then  followed  under  Septimius  Severus  a  renewed 
effort  to  crush  out  the  unauthorized  guilds,  and  along 
with  them  the  Christian  Church.  Propagation  of  the 
faith  was  forbidden  and  many  martyrs  gave  up  their 
lives  in  Egypt  and  North  Africa,  among  them  the  noble 
woman,  Perpetua.  Thus  it  went  on,  through  decade 
after  decade,  an  era  of  persecution  alternating  with  one 
of  toleration.  Christianity,  even  in  peaceful  days,  had 
not  yet  received  pubHc  and  official  recognition.  The 
fires  of  persecution  might  break  out  at  any  moment,  as 
they  did  again  and  again.  The  Emperor  Decius,  though 
he  reigned  for  only  two  years  (249-251),  issued  an  edict 
against  the  Christians  which  resulted  in  numberless 
martyrdoms.  "Some  fled,  some  were  captured.  The 
deserts  and  the  mountains  were  filled  with  fugitives 
who  perished  by  famine  and  cold  and  wild  beasts  and 
robbers.  And  not  a  few  maidens  and  soldiers  gloried  in 
the  witness  of  a  triumphant  death  which  they  were 
allowed  to  render  to  Christ." 


2^2    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

After  the  persecution  under  Decius  and  the  unsuccess- 
ful attempt  of  Valerian  to  force  the  Christians  into  con- 
formity with  the  state  reHgion,  the  church  enjoyed  forty- 
five  years  of  peace,  thanks  to  the  Emperor  Gallienus.  In 
261  he  issued  an  edict  which  virtually  acknowledged 
Christianity  as  a  religio  licita.  But  the  long  peace  of 
almost  half  a  century  only  prepared  for  the  last  and 
worst  of  the  persecutions,  that  under  Diocletian  (303). 

WHY  WERE  THE  CHRISTIANS  PERSECUTED? 

It  is  strange  that  the  educated  civilization  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  in  many  ways  the  highest  the  world  had  ever 
known  up  to  that  time;  that  enlightened  and  humane 
emperors  and  civil  officials,  disciples,  for  the  most  part, 
of  Zeno  and  Epictetus;  that  urbane  and  tolerant  and 
cosmopolitan  people  like  the  inhabitants  of  Alexandria 
and  Ephesus,  Carthage  and  Rome,  should  permit,  or 
themselves  engage  in,  the  persecution  of  innocent  and 
devout  men  and  women,  helpless  children,  poor  and 
humble  folk  who  could  not  by  any  stretch  of  imagination 
be  accused  of  political  designs.  What  is  the  explanation 
of  this  strange  anomaly? 

Reasons  for  the  persecutions. — In  the  first  place 
the  Christians  were  undoubtedly  technically  guilty  of 
breaking  a  Roman  law:  their  society  was  one  not 
authorized  by  the  Senate.  It  is,  of  course,  extremely 
doubtful  if  it  ever  could  have  been  so  authorized,  even 
had  application  been  made  for  a  License.  The  emperors, 
and  their  legates  and  proconsuls,  were  exceedingly 
suspicious  of  all  secret  societies — and  not  without 
reason,  as  we  learn  from  the  history  of  the  times.  Too 
often  the  trade-guilds  and  mutual-benefit  societies  be- 
came hotbeds  of  revolution.  As  Trajan  wrote  to  Pliny, 
"Whatever  the  name  we  give  these  societies,  and  what- 


TWO  CENTURIES  OF  GROWTH  273 

ever  their  excuse  for  existing,  they  soon  turn  out  to  be 
guilds"  (Pliny,  Epistle  34). 

Added  to  this  was  the  refusal  of  the  Christians  to 
pay  homage  to  the  genius  of  the  empire  through  sacrifice 
or  Ubation  to  the  gods,  or  through  reverencing  the 
statue  of  the  emperor.  To  pagans,  polytheists,  wor- 
shipers of  "gods  many  and  lords  many,"  such  reverence 
and  prayer  was  mere  matter  of  course,  a  patriotic  form 
or  ritual,  against  observing  which  no  reasonable  man  or 
loyal  citizen  could  object.  But  to  the  Christian  it  was 
idolatry  and  worse,  the  worship  of  a  man  in  place  of 
God — in  a  word,  it  was  the  adoration  of  Antichrist. 

Moreover,  the  church  administered  its  own  finances 
and  discipline  without  regard  to  the  state.  This  was 
pohtically  harmless;  but  the  very  existence  of  such 
powers  increased  the  suspicion  of  the  authorities  and 
lent  a  semblance  of  truth  to  exaggerated  nmiors  and 
the  malicious  tales  of  informers.  Then  the  mutual 
charity  of  the  Christians,  their  secret  signs  and  greetings, 
their  meetings  held  at  night  or  just  before  dawn,  the 
sacraments  and  sacred  compacts,^  not  only  still  further 
aroused  the  suspicion  of  the  authorities  and  the  ani- 
mosity of  their  neighbors  but  brought  down  upon  the 
Christians  the  full  force  of  the  law. 

Like  our  so-called  "blue  laws,"  there  were  Roman 
statutes,  some  of  considerable  antiquity,  against  each 
one  of  these  features  of  early  Christianity.  These  were 
as  a  rule  ignored;  but  in  times  of  popular  disturbance, 
when  the  mob  was  roused  and  demanded  its  victims, 
the  authorities  had  no  recourse  but  to  enforce  the  law 
in  aU  its  rigor.  The  worst  tragedy  of  the  persecutions 
is  that  they  were,  in  so  many  instances,  stupid  and 

» These  were  understood  by  non-Christians  as  oaths  like  the  military  sacramen- 
turn — see  Pliny's  letter. 


274     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

blind  and  unnecessary  even  from  a  sane  pagan  point 
of  view.  The  best  blood  in  the  empire  was  being  poured 
out  in  the  arena,  in  the  mines,  at  the  stake,  and  no  one 
had  the  intelligence  or  abihty  to  understand  and  con- 
ciliate and  secure  fair  play.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that 
the  imperial  authorities  simply  did  not  know  what  to 
do  with  Christianity.  They  had  never  experienced  a 
rehgion  of  this  kind  before.  It  was  technically  illegal;  but 
it  was  manifestly  a  harmless  and  even  an  inspiring  faith 
— and  they  solved  their  problem  by  trying  to  stamp  it  outl 
Popular  fanaticism. — ^Aside  from  official  permission 
or  instigation,  there  was,  of  course,  a  widespread  popular 
misunderstanding  which  made  the  official  persecution 
possible.  The  Christians  were  supposed  to  be  atheists 
who  had  deserted  the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  since 
they  did  not  worship  the  gods;  and  they  were  even 
said  to  be  cannibals  (perhaps  on  account  of  some  perver- 
sion of  the  words  of  the  Lord's  Supper),  feasting  upon 
the  flesh  of  children  (a  rumor  which  was  only  too  true 
in  the  case  of  certain  heathen  rites),  and  pledging 
themselves  to  deeds  of  wickedness,  the  destruction  of 
the  city  or  the  overthrow  of  government. 

"Our  enemies  defend  their  hatred  by  the  vain 
excuse  that  the  Christians  are  the  cause  of  every 
public  disaster,  of  every  common  misfortune.  U 
the  Tiber  rises  to  the  city  walls,  if  the  Nile  fails  to 
rise  over  the  com  lands,  if  there  is  a  drought  or  an 
earthquake,  or  a  famine  or  a  pestilence,  the  cry  is 
raised  at  once,  *The  Christians  to  the  lionr" — 
Tertullian,  Apology  40. 

The  victory  that  overcometh. — ^There  was  no  way 

of  overcoming  such  fanaticism,  superstition,  and  bigotry 
but   by  Hving   it  down — living   it   down   ^'even  unto 


TWO  CENTURIES  OF  GROWTH  275 

death."  It  has  been  said  that  the  early  Christian  "out- 
lived the  pagan,  outthought  him,  and  outdied  him.'* 
The  spectacle  of  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  going 
to  martyrdom  without  complaint,  gladly  choosing  to 
suffer  rather  than  deny  their  faith,  at  last  convinced 
even  the  hardest-hearted  that  Christianity  was  not  the 
infamous  cult  they  supposed  it  to  be.  In  spite  of  deci- 
mation, the  church  increased  in  numbers.  'We  multiply 
the  more  we  are  mown  down,"  said  Tertullian;  *'the  blood 
of  Christians  is  as  seed."  Or,  as  Justin,  the  converted 
philosopher,  himself  soon  to  become  a  martyr,  wrote : 

"You  can  plainly  see  that  when  we  are  beheaded 
and  crucified  and  exposed  to  wild  beasts  and  chains 
and  fire  and  every  other  torture,  we  do  not  abandon 
our  profession;  but  just  in  proportion  as  such  suf- 
ferings are  inflicted  so  many  more  are  added  to  our 
faith  and  religion  through  the  name  of  Jesus.  The 
gardener  cuts  off  the  limbs  of  the  vine  which  have 
borne  fruit  in  order  that  other  branches  may  spring 
forth,  and  thus  render  them  vigorous  and  produc- 
tive. And  so  it  proves  with  us.  The  vine  which 
has  been  planted  by  God  and  our  Saviour  Christ  is 
his  people." — ^Justin,  Dialogue  with  Trypho  no. 

By  the  end  of  the  third  century,  on  the  very  eve  of 
the  last  and  bitterest  persecution,  to  be  followed  soon 
by  the  open  triumph  of  the  church,  Christianity  had 
spread  to  the  farthest  limits  of  the  empire.  Not  that 
Christians  were  everywhere  in  the  majority.  But  they 
were  in  the  majority  in  some  of  the  chief  centers;  they 
were  increasing  generally;  and  the  cross  had  been  in- 
visibly planted,  along  with  the  standards  of  the  legions, 
upon  the  farthest  frontiers  of  the  Roman  power.  What 
had  spread  it  in  this  way?    The  preaching  and  teach- 


276    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

ing  of  evangelists  and  clergy,  the  writings  of  apologists 
and  scholars;  but  chiefly  the  simple,  steadfast  faith  and 
honest  Hves  and  constancy  even  unto  death  of  the 
humble  rank  and  file  of  behevers.  "This  is  the  victory 
that  overcome th  the  world,  even  our  faith"  (i  John  5:4). 
The  word  ''faith"  mccins  diho  faithfulness, 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Read   over   in   your   ancient   history    (for   example, 

Breasted,  Ancient  Times,  Chapters  XXVIII,  XXIX) 
the  account  of  the  Roman  Empire  from  Hadrian  to 
Diocletian.  Were  there  any  reasons  for  caution  in 
dealing  with  latent  political  movements? 

2.  Study  the  map  showing  the  expansion  of  early  Chris- 

tianity and  compare  it  with  a  map  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire.   Draw  one  of  your  own  to  go  into  your  notebook. 

3.  Look   up    "Catacombs,"    "Eucharist,"    "Antichrist," 

"Sacrament,"  "Blue  Laws,"  and  define  them  in 
yotu-  notebook.    Who  were  Zeno  and  Epictetus? 

4.  Look  up  and  read  the  story  of  Saint  Perpetua  (see  the 

encyclopedia) . 

5.  What  were  the  rescripts  of  Trajan  and  Hadrian,  and 

what  rules  did  they  lay  down?    Compare  the  two. 

6.  Explain  the  origin  and  growth  of  the  legend  of  the 

"thundering  legion."  What  is  its  value  for  our 
study  of  the  spread  of  Christianity? 

7.  Explain    the    persecution    of    the    early    Christians 

(i)  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  emperors  and 
civil  authorities;  (2)  from  that  of  the  pagan  popu- 
lation. How  did  Christianity  spread  in  spite  of 
persecution? 

8.  What  effect  had  the  testimony  and  the  lives  of  "the 

htmible  rank  and  file  of  believers"  upon  the  growth  of 
Christianity  ?  Has  it  a  similar  effect  to-day  ?  How  may 
all  of  us  bear  witness  for  Christ  in  oiu*  daily  lives  ? 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
CHURCH  WORSHIP  AND  MEMBERSHIP 

In  the  early  days  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  the 
Christians  worshiped  in  the  Temple  like  all  other  Jews. 
Outside  Jerusalem,  and  even  within  the  city,  as  the  story 
of  Stephen  shows,  they  worshiped  in  the  synagogues. 
Though  arrested  for  preaching  m  the  Temple  courts, 
and  though  beaten  and  ''cast  out"  of  the  synagogues, 
they  continued  to  worship  there  until  Palestinian  Chris- 
tianity and  Judaism  fimally  separated  some  time  after 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 

Outside  Palestine  the  Christian  movement  began,  as 
a  rule,  in  the  Jewish  synagogues.  Here  the  gospel  was 
preached  on  Sabbaths,  and  usually  a  few  of  its  members 
or  adherents  (often  the  "God-fearing"  Gentiles  who  had 
already  accepted  Judaism  half  way)  were  converted  to 
Christianity  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  new  Chris- 
tian congregation. 

Hence  it  was  only  natural  for  the  church's  services 
of  worship  to  be  modeled  very  largely  upon  the  services 
in  the  Jewish  synagogue.  The  Greek  translation  of  the 
Old  Testament,  used  in  the  synagogues  outside  Pales- 
tine, was  taken  over  by  the  Christians,  and  Lessons 
were  read  at  pubHc  worship  from  the  Law  and  Prophets. 
Certain  of  the  Psalms  were  said  at  morning  and  evening 
prayer,  just  as  in  the  Jewish  services.  Common  prayers 
were  likewise  used,  though  their  contents  and  wording 
were,  of  course,  quite  different  from  the  Jewish  prayers. 
These  three  elements  in  the  synagogue  services,  Psahns, 

^77 


278    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Lessons,   and  Prayers,   were  also  to  be  found  in  the 
worship  of  the  Christians. 


There  were,  however,  two  important  exceptions,  two 
services  or  sacraments  for  which  the  synagogue  had  no 
parallel.  These  were  the  administration  of  Baptism, 
and  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  Eucharist. 

The  sacrament  of  Baptism. — ^The  rite  of  baptism 
had  been  an  essential  feature  of  the  Christian  reHgion 
from  its  very  beginning.  Even  before  the  ministry  of 
our  Lord,  John  the  Baptist  had  preached  "the  baptism 
of  repentance  unto  remission  of  sins."  Jesus  had  been 
baptized,  and  his  disciples.  The  early  Christians  in 
Jerusalem  were  aU  baptized:  it  was  the  normal  way  in 
which  to  become  a  Christian  and  a  member  of  the 
church.  The  same  procedure  was  followed  in  the  Gentile 
mission  by  Paul  and  other  leaders.  It  is  sometimes  said 
that  baptism  was  taken  over  from  the  custom  of  the 
Jews  in  the  Diaspora  who  baptized  their  Gentile  pros- 
elytes. But  this  was  not  the  same  as  Christian  baptism, 
which  admitted  one  to  full-fledged  membership  in  the 
church — a  rite  to  which  circumcision  was  the  real 
Jewish  parallel. 

Its  requirements. — The  two  requirements  of  the 
candidate  for  baptism  were  repentance  and  faith:  re- 
pentance from  his  former  sins,  a  "conversion"  or  facing 
about,  turning  his  back  upon  his  former  Hfe  of  self- 
indulgence,  vice,  or  sin;  and  faith  in  Christ,  confidence 
in  his  power  over  sin  and  evil  and  even  death,  and  the 
resolute  committal  of  all  one's  future  happiness  in  this 
life  and  the  next  into  the  keeping  of  Jesus  his  Lord. 

Very  early  some  sort  of  creed  or  confession  of  faith 
was  required.   In  the  Ufetime  of  Saint  Paul  it  was  little 


CHURCH  WORSHIP  AND  MEMBERSHIP    279 

more  than  the  words  of  acknowledgment,  Kyrios  lesous 
— "J^sus  is  Lord!"  (See  i  Corinthians  12:3.)  By  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  this  formula  of  belief  had 
grown  until  it  was  approximately  what  we  call,  to-day, 
''the  Apostles'  Creed." 

"I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  almighty,  maker  of 
heaven  and  earth; 

"And  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord; 
who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  bom  of  the 
virgin  Mary,  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was 
crucified,  dead,  and  buried;  he  descended  into 
hades;  the  third  day  he  rose  from  the  dead; 
he  ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father  almighty;  from  thence  he 
shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead ; 

"I  beUeve  in  the  Holy  Spuit;  the  holy  catholic 
church,  the  communion  of  saints;  the  forgiveness  of 
sins ;  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life  ever- 
lasting.   Amen."  ^ 

Baptism  not  repeated. — A  description  of  the  admin- 
istration of  baptism  in  the  early  church  is  found  in  the 
Apology  of  Justin  Martyr: 

"I  will  also  relate  the  manner  in  which  we  dedi- 
cated ourselves  to  God  when  we  had  been  made 
new  through  Christ.  As  many  as  are  persuaded 
and  beUeve  that  what  we  teach  is  true,  and  under- 
take to  Uve  accordingly,  are  instructed  to  pray  and 

*  "Hades,"  that  is,  the  place  of  departed  spirits,  which  our  Lord  visited  and 
where  he  preached  salvation,  according  to  the  early  Christian  belief,  in  the  inter- 
val between  his  death  and  resurrection;  see  the  creed-like  passage  in  i  Peter  3: 
18-22.  "The  holy  catholic  church,"  that  is,  universal,  world-wide;  even  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century  (see  the  epistles  of  Ignatius)  this  was  the  name 
of  the  Christian  Church.  It  was  universal,  not  in  the  sense  of  including  the  whole 
world,  but  as  spread  throughout  it.  "The  communion  of  saints"  was  another  name 
for  the  Church;  Christians  were  "called  to  be  saints,"  according  to  Saint  Paul  and 
other  early  teachers. 


28o    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

intreat  God  with  fasting  for  the  remission  of  their 
sins  that  are  past,  we  praying  and  fasting  with  them. 
Then  they  are  brought  where  there  is  water  and  are 
regenerated  in  the  same  manner  as  we  ourselves 
were  bom  again.  For  in  the  name  of  God,  the 
Father  and  Lord  of  the  universe,  and  of  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  then  re- 
ceive the  washing  with  water."— Justin,  Apology  6i. 

So  solemnly  and  seriously  was  this  dedicatory  sacra- 
ment received  that  many,  like  the  author  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  (see  6:4-6),  believed  there  was  no 
hope  for  the  wavering  disciple  who  denied  the  faith 
under  stress  of  persecution.  There  were  some  who  did 
so,  offering  the  incense  and  pouring  the  wine  and  calling 
upon  the  gods,  thereby  saving  themselves  and  their 
families  from  banishment  or  death.  They  received  a 
certificate,  or  lihellus,  from  the  poHce,  and  were  hence- 
forth unmolested.  But  among  the  faithful  they  were 
known  as  libellatici,  "receipt  holders,"  and  grave  ques- 
tions were  raised  about  their  readmission  into  the 
church  after  the  persecution  subsided.  In  some  instances 
they  were  rebaptized;  but  it  became  a  rule,  by  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  that  baptism  should  not 
be  repeated.  Once  a  person  was  baptized,  he  had  "put 
on  Christ"  and  was  "buried  with  him  in  his  death  and 
raised  up  a  new  man  in  his  resurrection,"  as  Saint  Paul 
had  taught  (see  Romans  6).  Such  a  process  could  not 
be  repeated. 

The  Lord's  Supper. — ^The  other  sacrament,  for  which 
the  synagogue  offered  no  parallel,  was  the  one  which 
commemorated  the  last  supper  of  Jesus  with  his  dis- 
ciples, on  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed.  This  too, 
under  the  name,  "the  breaking  of  the  bread,"  had  been 
observed  constantly  from  the  very  first,  in  Jerusalem, 


CHURCH  WORSHIP  AND  MEMBERSHIP    281 

Antioch,  Ephesus,  Bithynia,  Alexandria,  Rome.  Down 
in  the  catacombs  beneath  the  imperial  city  may  stiU 
be  seen  the  altars  where  the  early  Christians  celebrated 
this  sacred  rite;  and  to  this  day  the  lighted  candles 
upon  the  altars  of  certain  churches  at  the  Communion 
service  remind  us  of  that  dim  yet  glorious  epoch  of  the 
long  ago. 

Justin  Martyr  also  describes  this  service  in  his  Apology 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  Antoninus  about  150  A.  D. 

"Then  there  is  presented  to  the  president  of  the 
brethren  bread  and  a  cup  of  wine  mingled  with 
water,  and  having  taken  it  he  offers  up  praise  and 
glory  to  the  Father  of  all  by  the  name  of  the  Son 
and  Holy  Spirit;  and  he  offers  at  length  thanks- 
giving for  our  having  been  made  worthy  of  these 
things  by  him.  And  when  he  concludes  the  prayer 
and  thanksgiving  all  those  present  answer  with  ac- 
clamation, *Amen* — which  means  in  Hebrew,  *So  be 
it.*  After  this  those  who  are  called  deacons  dis- 
tribute to  each  of  those  present,  for  them  to  partake 
of  the  bread  and  the  wine  and  water,  and  they  carry 
away  portions  to  those  who  are  absent. 

"And  this  food  is  called  by  us  Eucharistia  (Thanks- 
giving), and  none  may  partake  of  it  save  those  who 
believe  our  teachings  and  have  been  washed  in  the 
bath  which  is  for  remission  of  sins  and  rebirth,  and 
who  live  as  Christ  taught;  we  do  not  receive  these 
as  common  bread  or  common  drink.  .  .  .  For  the 
apostles,  in  the  memorials  made  by  them  called 
Gospels,  have  related  it  to  have  been  enjoined  on 
them — ^Jesus  took  bread,  gave  thanks,  and  said, 
This  do  in  memory  of  me;  this  is  my  body;*  and 
likewise  the  cup,  he  took  and  said,  *This  is  my 
blood;*  and  he  distributed  to  them  alone.**— Justin, 
Apology  66. 


282     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

The  prayer  of  consecration. — What  was  this  prayer, 
offered  by  the  ^'president''  (that  is,  elder  or  bishop)? 
Justin  does  not  say.  It  was  a  thanksgiving,  of  course, 
for  from  that  prayer  the  service  ("Eucharist")  takes  its 
name.  Some  light  is  thrown  upon  this  question  by  a 
document  discovered  in  1875,  after  having  been  lost  for 
many  centuries,  known  as  the  DidacM,  or  ''Teaching 
of  the  Twelve  Apostles.*'  It  belonged  perhaps  to  the 
north  Syrian  church,  and  was  very  likely  written  some 
time  in  the  early  second  century.  It  is  a  little  manual 
of  doctrine,  morals,  and  worship.  After  giving  direc- 
tions regarding  baptism,  fasting,  and  prayer,  it  con- 
tinues, 

"Now  conceming  the  Thanksgiving,  give  ye  thanks 
thus  (for  the  cup) :  We  give  thee  thanks,  our  Father, 
for  the  holy  vine  of  David  thy  servant,  which  thou 
madest  known  to  us  through  Jesus  thy  servant;  to 
thee  be  the  glory  forever.  (And  for  the  broken 
bread :)  We  give  thanks  to  thee,  our  Father,  for  the 
life  and  knowledge  which  thou  madest  known  to  us 
through  Jesus  thy  servant;  to  thee  be  the  glory 
forever.  As  this  broken  bread  was  scattered  abroad 
over  the  mountains,  and  being  gathered  together  be- 
came one,  so  let  thy  church  be  gathered  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth  into  thy  kingdom;  for  thine  is  the 
glory  and  the  power  through  Jesus  Christ  forever." 
— ^Didach^  9. 

The  importance  of  the  Eucharist. — ^While  theu- 
neighbors  were  feasting  in  the  temple  of  Serapis,  or 
undergoing  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  Isis  or  the 
Eleusinia,  or  receiving  the  gory  baptism  of  buU's  blood 
in  the  cult  of  Mithras,  the  early  Christians  were  gather- 
ing at  the  altar  of  their  Lord  to  consecrate  themselves 
afresh  to  his  service  and  to  receive  the  Life-giving  sacra- 


CHURCH  WORSHIP  AND  MEMBERSHIP    283 

ment  of  his  spiritual  body  and  blood.  We  scarcely 
realize  how  much  this  service  meant  to  them.  It  was 
jealously  guarded  from  the  eyes  of  unbelievers;  it  was 
received  early  in  the  morning,  on  the  Lord's  Day,  the 
first  food  partaken  on  that  day  or  in  the  new  week;  it 
was  the  sacred  and  divinely  appointed  means  of  com- 
munion with  their  present  and  all-powerful  Lord;  it 
was,  in  fact,  in  the  words  of  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  nothing 
less  to  them  than  "the  medicine  of  immortality." 

Development  of  the  service. — There  are  some  writers 
who  hold  that  the  Christian  Eucharist  was  only  a 
counterpart  of  the  pagan  mysteries,  made  necessary  by 
the  keen  competition  between  the  church  and  the 
heathen  cults.  This  may  be  true  of  the  love-feast,  or 
common  meal  (see  once  more  Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan, 
referring  to  the  common  meal  which  they  had  given  up) , 
for  it  resembled  in  some  ways  the  temple-banquets  of 
the  time;  but  it  does  not  account  for  either  the  origin 
or  the  continued  observance  of  the  Eucharist,  the 
"sacramentum"  quite  distinct  from  it. 

As  time  went  on,  this  service,  which  was  thus  from 
the  beginning  the  central  rite  of  the  Christian  religion, 
received  more  and  richer  adornment  of  devotional 
hymns,  solemn  ritual,  rich  ornaments  and  vestments. 
For  example,  the  beautiful  antiphonal  words,  called  the 
Sursum  corda,  still  used  by  many  churches,  are  found 
very  early  in  the  liturgies: 

Priest:  "Lift  up  your  hearts." 
People:  "We  lift  them  up  unto  the  Lord." 
Priest:  "Let  us  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord." 
People :  "It  is  meet  and  right  so  to  do." 

Yet  nothing  was  allowed  to  obscure  the  central  impor- 
tance of  worship  and  communion.    Even  as  late  as  the 


284    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

fourth  and  fifth  centuries  there  were  some  (see  the 
Confessions  of  Saint  Augustine)  who  objected  to  the 
chanting  of  psahns.  The  religion  and  the  ritual  of  the 
early  Christians  were  for  the  most  part  quite  sternly 
severe  in  their  simpHcity.  Men  and  women  who  might 
be  called  upon  at  any  moment  to  bear  witness  to  the 
faith  in  their  own  blood  were  not  easily  led  to  forget 
the  vital  truths  of  Christianity  in  the  elaboration  of 
pompous  ceremonial. 

MEMBERSHIP  AND  ORGANIZATION 

Simple  and  solemn  as  were  their  services  of  worship, 
stern  and  heroic  as  was  their  temper  of  mind — though 
often  relieved  by  a  sunny  and  carefree  happiness,  and 
a  profound,  inalienable  joy  which  possessed  their  hearts 
even  in  death — so  also  was  their  organization  simple, 
and  their  conditions  of  membership  were  plain  and 
unmistakable. 

"Who  are  the  Christians?" — ^The  question  was 
often  asked,  "Who  are  the  Christians?"  after  the  per- 
secutions began.  It  became  increasingly  necessary  to 
answer  it  as  malignant  rumors  and  false  accusations 
spread  abroad.  The  historian  Tacitus  writes  that  the 
Christians  in  Rome  under  Nero  were  convicted  "not  so 
much  of  arson  as  of  hatred  of  the  human  race"  (Annals 
15:44).  They  were  popularly  accused  of  being  men 
without  a  country,  a  charge  which  was  admitted  in  a 
spiritual  sense  (see  Hebrews  13:  13-14);  of  representing 
a  monstrous  "third  race,"  neither  barbarian  nor  Greek; 
of  intending  the  destruction  of  the  commonwealth  and 
sanctioning  the  foulest  crimes. 

One  reply  to  the  question,  one  of  the  earUest 
"Apologies"  for  Christianity,  was  that  written  by 
Aristides  in  the  days  of  Antoninus  Pius: 


CHURCH  WORSHIP  AND  MEMBERSHIP    285 

"The  Christians  know  and  trust  God,  the  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth,  in  whom  are  all  things  and  from 
whom  are  all  things,  and  who  hath  no  other  God 
beside  him.  From  him  they  have  received  the  com- 
mandments which  they  have  engraved  on  their 
minds  and  keep  in  the  hope  and  expectation  of  the 
world  to  come.  ...  If  any  of  them  have  slaves, 
they  persuade  them  to  become  Christians  for  the 
love  tiiey  have  to  them;  and  when  they  become  so 
they  call  them  without  distinction  brothers.  They 
do  not  worship  strange  gods.  They  walk  in  aM 
humility  and  kindness,  and  falsehood  is  not  fotmii 
among  them.  They  love  one  another.  They  do  not 
refuse  to  help  the  widows.  They  rescue  the  orphan 
from  violence.  He  who  has  gives  ungrudgingly  to 
him  who  lacks.  If  they  see  a  stranger,  they  take 
him  home  and  entertain  him  as  a  brother.  .  .  . 
When  one  of  their  poor  passes  from  this  worlds 
any  one  of  them  who  sees  it  provides  for  his  burial 
according  to  his  abiUty.  And  if  they  hear  that  any 
one  of  their  number  is  in  prison  or  oppressed  for 
the  name  of  their  Messiah,  all  of  them  provide  for 
his  needs.  .  .  .  Thus  they  labor  to  become  right- 
eous, as  those  who  expect  to  see  their  Messiah  and 
to  receive  from  him  tiie  glorious  fulfillment  of  the 
promises  made  to  them.  Truly  this  is  a  new  peo- 
ple, and  there  is  something  divine  in  them!" — 
Aristides,  Apology  15-16. 

The  church's  organization. — As  the  Christians  were 
"soldiers  of  Christ,"  so  their  organization  was  rigid  and 
their  discipline  strict.  In  the  days  of  the  apostles  local 
churches  were  ruled  like  the  Jewish  synagogues  by 
"elders"  (presbyteroi)  under  the  leadership  and  direction 
of  the  apostles  or  their  representatives.  Such,  for 
example,  were  the  elders  in  Ephesus  and  Jerusalem.    Ik 


286    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

addition  to  these  were  the  "deacons,"  or  "ministers," 
who  either  dispensed  the  charity  of  the  church  under 
the  supervision  of  the  elders,  or  bore  the  sacred  bread 
of  the  Eucharist  to  those  who  were  absent,  sick,  or  in 
prison;  or  perhaps  their  duties  included  both. 

After  the  time  of  the  apostles  we  hear  of  "bishops,"  or 
"overseers,"  who  were  set  over  the  local  churches. 
Either  they  were  appointed  by  apostles,  as  Paul  ap- 
pointed Timothy  and  Titus  as  his  representatives,  or 
they  were  elected  by  the  elders  to  be  their  "president," 
or  head.  By  the  time  of  Clement  and  Ignatius,  perhaps 
even  earlier,  bishops  are  found  at  the  head  of  the 
various  churches.  Their  commands  must  be  obeyed. 
The  Eucharist  must  not  be  celebrated  without  them. 
They  are  the  "shepherds  of  the  flock." 

This  simple,  effective  system  of  organization  gradually 
spread  over  the  whole  Christian  Church,  and  has  with 
some  modifications  survived  among  the  majority  of 
Christians  down  to  the  present.  Bishops  of  prominent 
churches  or  even  whole  cities  came  in  time  to  enjoy 
greater  power  and  authority  than  their  humbler 
brethren.  The  archbishops  of  Alexandria,  the  metro- 
politans of  Athens  and  Constantinople,  the  Roman 
pontiff,  or  Pope,  became  in  the  course  of  centuries  the 
occupants  of  thrones  and  wielders  of  mighty  scepters. 
But  in  the  second  and  third  centuries,  in  the  days  of 
the  persecutions,  the  bishop  was  usually  the  father  and 
shepherd  of  his  flock,  and  the  first  to  lay  down  his  life 
for  the  faith. 

Charity  and  education. — From  the  first  the  early 
church  did  not  neglect  the  charitable  relief  of  its  poor. 
In  the  book  of  Acts  we  read  of  such  provision,  the  sale 
of  land  and  division  of  the  funds,  the  care  of  the  Hellenist 
widows,  Dorcas'  gifts,  Paul's  collection  for  the  poor. 


CHURCH  WORSHIP  AND  MEMBERSHIP    287 

And  in  the  second  century  we  read  of  the  rule,  "In 
every  congregation  at  least  one  widow  is  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  take  care  of  sick  women"  (as  the  deacons 
cared  for  the  men).  And  Justin  Martyr  says,  ''Those 
who  are  weU  to  do  give  as  they  choose.  The  collection 
is  then  deposited  with  the  president,  who  cares  for 
orphans,  widows,  and  those  in  want  from  sickness  or 
other  cause,  those  in  prison,  and  strangers  on  a  jour- 
ney" (Apology  67).  Celsus  makes  this  a  butt  of  ridicule 
when  he  writes,  *'What  sort  of  persons  do  the  Chris- 
tians invite  to  their  worship?  'Any  one  who  is  a  sinner,' 
they  say,  'or  devoid  of  understanding,  or  simple-minded; 
in  short,  whoever  is  unfortunate  will  be  welcomed  to 
the  kingdom  of  God.'  "  But  at  last  the  admiring  com- 
ment was  drawn  from  pagan  lips,  "Look  how  these 
Christians  love  one  another!" 

Not  only  the  poor  and  the  sick  but  also  the  ignorant 
were  gathered  into  the  fold.  Schools  were  founded — for 
example,  the  famous  one  at  Alexandria  over  which 
Pantaenus  presided  and  which  educated  a  long  succes- 
sion of  scholars  and  saints,  among  them  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  Origen,  Heraclas,  and  Dionysius.  Their 
highest  object  was  to  bring  all  the  treasures  of  Greek 
philosophy,  science,  and  literature  to  the  service  of 
Christ  and  to  the  elucidation  of  the  gospel  message  by 
means  of  theology  and  logic.  The  foimdation  of  this 
school,  some  time  in  the  second  century,  marks  the 
point  at  which  Christianity  began  to  appeal  more 
strongly  than  before  to  the  intelligent  and  educated, 
the  intellectually  and  philosophically  trained  minds  of 
the  Graeco-Roman  world.  The  foundation  was  already 
being  laid  for  the  rich  development  of  Christian  theology, 
literature,  and  history;  a  process  which  reached  its 
cuhnination  in  the  Greek  Fathers  of  the  fourth  and 


288    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

fifth  centuries,  in  the  east,  and  in  the  west  in  the  great 
schoohnen  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries — a 
process  which  kept  learning  aHve  through  the  long 
night  of  the  Dark  Ages  when  barbarism  settled  over 
most  of  Europe,  and  one  which  has  been  continued 
through  the  centuries  down  to  the  present. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Sketch  briefly  the  origin  and  development  of  Christian 

worship. 

2.  Look  up  the  references  to  the  New  Testament  in  this 

chapter.    What  was  the  earliest  creed?    How  was  it 
used? 

3.  See  the  picture  of  a  lihellus  in  Breasted's  Ancient 

Times,  p.  662,  or  in  some  other  book. 

4.  If  you  can  procure  a  translation  of  the  DidaM,  read 

the  whole  of  it,  and  write  a  brief  description  of  it  in 
your  notebook. 

5.  Explain  the  significance  of  baptism  and  the  Eucharist 

to  the  early  Christians.     Refer  both  to  the  New 
T^^ta^n&^t  Oi^xi  the  early  Christian  writers. 

6.  How  did  AHstfdeS  ansvver  xMe.  pagan  calimmies? 
J   0^cAbe^M^ar^'tt:^tiOi^  of  the  ea>;iy  church. 

B'  ^l3i/'e  yc>a  j[)^i\  baPXkW^,  cv  aJiViitVed  tt  the  Holy 
Coww^m^oiX  (or  ijoid^s  Swp^i)^  &-  30,  v«^.^at  is 
fzqa\v&i  cf  you^   fi<?tVci£>t^  ft  CcrVipc?i%  i\*\tk  the 

9  )Hh  c<^0'^  ^ikC^M  (^^9iys'>  To4sf  To  w5eU'i4> 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Before  even  the  first  century  had  been  completed 
and  Christianity  had  passed  the  first  two  generations  of 
its  growth  (30-100  A.  D.),  the  church  had  reached  large 
numbers  of  various  kinds  of  people.  Even  in  Paul's 
day,  "they  of  Caesar's  household"  sent  greetings  to  the 
far-away  Christians  in  PhiHppi  (Philippians  4:22). 
From  Corinth,  Erastus,  the  city  treasurer,  sends  a  greet- 
ing to  the  church  in  Ephesus  (Romans  16:23;  see 
Chapter  XX).  A  list  of  the  various  trades  and  occupa- 
tions represented  by  the  Christians  named  in  the  New 
Testament,  not  including  the  hterature  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries,  would  be  both  interesting  and 
informing.  And  in  the  second  century  the  expansion  of 
the  church  continued  until  its  members  were  found,  as 
Tertullian  boasted,  in  all  walks  of  hfe — in  commerce,  in 
industry,  in  the  country,  in  the  city,  in  the  courts,  the 
palace,  the  Senate.  By  another  century  paganism  had 
begun  losing  ground  on  so  large  a  scale  that  the  most 
drastic  measures  were  undertaken  in  the  effort  to  crush 
out  the  new  religion,  under  Decius  and  Diocletian . 

THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  SECOND  CENTURY 

The  various  types  of  mind  and  outlook  represented  in 
the  church  of  the  second  century  are  to  be  seen  in  such 
literature  as  has  survived  and  come  down  to  us.  There 
were  legaUsts  and  allegorists,  like  the  author  of  the 
Epistle  of  Barnabas^  who  held  that  the  Jews  sinned  in 
building  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  since  the  Law  referred 

289 


290    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

not  to  a  material  but  a  spiritual  structure !  There  were 
mystics  and  seers,  like  Hermas  of  Rome,  who  wrote  a  book 
called  The  Shepherd,  a  book  fuU  of  visions  and  exhorta- 
tions and  stern  rebukes  for  the  sins  of  his  neighbors.  There 
were  writers  like  Clement  and  Ignatius  who  emphasized 
obedience  to  episcopal  authority  so  strongly  that  this 
almost  appears  the  chief  Christian  virtue.  There  were 
wild  visionaries,  the  Gnostics,  who  turned  Christianity 
into  a  system  of  mythology  and  looked  upon  Christ  as 
only  one  of  many  "emanations"  from  the  Supreme 
Being.  There  were  fanatical  ascetics  who  forbade 
marriage  and  enjoined  continual  fasting  and  preparation 
for  the  descent  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  These  latter 
teachers,  the  Gnostics  and  Montanists  as  they  were 
called,  the  church  repudiated,  for  their  teaching  could 
not  by  any  means  be  identified  with  her  own.  This  was 
not  done,  however,  without  some  controversy,  as  the 
"heretics"  refused  to  admit  that  their  teaching  was 
false.  The  great  writers  who  defended  the  true  teaching 
of  the  church  against  such  false  interpretations  and 
caricatures  were  numbered  among  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church.  Their  writings  were  carefully  preserved  for 
later  ages,  though  with  some  unfortunate  omissions;  and 
these  writings,  together  with  the  writings  of  the 
apologists  who  defended  the  church  against  heathen 
attacks,  form  the  bulk  of  the  Christian  literature  of  the 
second  century. 

Justin  Martyr. — ^We  do  not  know  much  about  their 
Uves.  One  of  the  best  known  is  Justin  Martyr,  from 
whose  Apology  and  Dialogue  we  have  already  quoted. 
He  was  born  in  Palestine,  at  Flavia  NeapoHs,  the  new 
Roman  town  on  the  site  of  ancient  Sichem.  His  parents 
were  pagans,  and  were  compelled  to  leave  Palestine 
about  the  year  lOO  on  account  of  the  unsettled  state  of 


THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH    291 

the  country.  He  had  received  the  usual  education  of  a 
Greek  youth,  but  turned  from  one  school  of  philosophy 
to  another  in  the  hope  of  satisfying  both  heart  and 
mind.  Only  the  philosophy  of  Plato  seemed  to  give 
him  any  satisfaction;  finally  at  Ephesus  he  met  an  old 
man  who  pointed  him  to  the  Jewish  prophets  and  then 
to  Christ.  He  was  converted  and  went  to  Rome,  still 
wearing  his  philosopher's  cloak  but  teaching  a  new 
philosophy.  Of  his  writings,  some  of  which  were  against 
the  Gnostics,  only  three  survive:  (i)  the  Apology,  ad- 
dressed to  Antoninus  Pius,  about  150  A.  D.;  (2)  a  second 
Apology,  or,  rather,  Appendix  to  the  first,  addressed 
shortly  afterward  to  the  Roman  Senate;  and  (3)  the 
Dialogtie  with  Trypho  the  Jew,  recording  a  conversation 
with  a  liberal  Jew  of  Ephesus  and  showing  vividly  the 
early  church's  use  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  and  their 
interpretation  in  a  Christian  sense. 

The  Apology  is  both  a  defense  of  Christians  against 
the  calumnies  of  their  foes  and  a  clear  account  of  their 
teachings,  worship,  and  poHtical  loyalty.  Especially 
noteworthy  is  the  assurance  which  he  offers  that  Chris- 
tians are  not  disloyal  but,  on  the  contrary,  make  good 
citizens,  a  fact  which  would  appeal  to  an  emperor. 

"More  than  all  other  men  we  are  your  helpers 
and  allies  in  promoting  peace,  seemg  tiiat  we  hold 
it  is  impossible  for  the  wicked,  the  covetous,  the 
conspirator — and  even  the  virtuous — to  escape  the 
notice  of  God ;  and  that  each  man  goes  to  everlasting 
punishment  or  salvation  according  to  the  worth  of 
his  actions." — ^Justin,  Apology  12. 

This  argument  was  advanced  more  than  once  in  the 
second  century.  Melito  of  Sardis  argues  that  since 
Christianity  was  coeval  with  the  empire,  Christ  having 


292    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

been  bom  under  Augustus,  the  two  powers  were  in- 
tended by  God  to  be  a  mutual  aid  and  support,  and 
therefore  the  government  should  prohibit  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Christians.  Only  wicked  emperors  like  Nero 
and  Domitian  had  afflicted  the  church;  good  emperors 
like  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  had  protected  it. 

What  impression  the  Apology  made  we  do  not  know. 
A  few  years  later,  about  165,  seven  Christians  were 
haled  before  a  Roman  prefect  one  morning,  six  men  and 
one  woman,  and  commanded  to  throw  the  pinch  of 
incense  on  the  altar  before  the  bench.  One  of  them  was 
Justin,  still  wearing  his  philosopher's  cloak.  The  prefect, 
Junius  Rusticus,  a  gruff  poHce  magistrate,  turned  to 
Justin  and  said,  "Listen,  you  who  are  so  wise  and 
pretend  to  know  the  truth!  Do  you  think  if  you  are 
scourged  and  beheaded  you  will  ascend  to  heaven?" 
Justin  replied,  "Through  prayer  we  can  be  saved  on 
account  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  even  when  we  have 
been  punished;  because  this  shall  become  to  us  salva- 
tion and  confidence  at  the  more  fearful  and  universal 
judgment  seat  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour."  And  the  others 
said,  "Do  what  you  will,  we  are  Christians  and  do  not 
sacrifice  to  idols."  Then  the  prefect  pronounced  the 
sentence,  "Let  those  who  have  refused  to  sacrifice  to 
the  gods  and  to  yield  to  the  command  of  the  Emperor 
be  scourged,  and  led  away  to  be  beheaded,  according  to 
the  laws."  The  trial  had  lasted  only  a  few  minutes,  and 
in  an  equal  time  Justin  and  his  six  companions  had  sealed 
their  testimony  in  death. 

Saint  Irenaeus. — ^As  Justin  is  the  typical  apologist, 
so  Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons  in  Gaul,  is  the  typical 
theologian.  Born  in  Asia  Minor  about  130,  perhaps  in 
Ephesus  where  he  knew  the  aged  Polycarp,  and  accom- 
panying him  to  Rome  (as  some  think),  he  formed  a 


THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH    293 

living  link  which  bound  together  the  east  and  the  west, 
Ephesus  and  Gaul,  the  life  and  thought  of  the  post- 
apostolic  age  with  that  of  the  growing  catholic  church  of 
the  second  century.  Of  his  experiences  in  youth  he  writes: 

"I  can  describe  the  very  place  where  the  blessed 
Polycarp  used  to  sit  when  he  discoursed,  his  goings- 
out  and  his  comings-in,  his  manner  of  life  and  per- 
sonal appearance,  and  the  discourses  which  he  held 
before  the  people;  and  how  he  would  describe  his 
intercourse  with  John  and  with  the  rest  who  had 
seen  the  Lord,  and  how  he  would  relate  their  words." 
— ^Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  History  5 :  20. 

Of  his  writings,  the  most  important  has  survived,  the 
one  Against  Heresies,  written  about  190.  It  is  a  criticism 
of  various  false  doctrines  held  at  the  time,  chiefly  those 
of  the  Gnostics,  but  it  includes  a  strong  and  thoughtful 
presentation  of  the  teaching  of  the  church.  His  central 
idea  is  that  God  and  his  world  are  not  opposed — as  the 
Gnostics  taught,  spirit  and  matter  being  incompatible — 
but  there  exists  a  true  kinship  between  them.  The 
Christian  redemption  consists  in  "the  sanctification  of 
nature  and  the  exaltation  of  man  to  a  new  degree  of 
union  with  God."  Therefore  the  Son  of  God  was  in- 
carnate: "On  accoimt  of  his  infinite  love  he  became 
what  we  are  in  order  that  he  might  make  us  what  he 
himself  is." 

The  spirit  of  his  theology  and  of  his  life  were  one.  He 
dealt  gently  and  tenderly  with  those  who  were  inclined 
toward  Montanism,  and  so  killed  heresy  by  kindness. 
When  some  of  his  flock  denied  the  faith  during  persecu- 
tion, he  hoped  for  their  restoration,  feeling  that  the 
prayers  of  the  martyrs  for  the  pardon  of  their  weaker 
brethren  would  have  great  weight  with  God.  He  worked 


294    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

indefatigably  in  his  diocese.  In  order  to  reach  the  Celtic 
people  of  the  neighborhood  he  learned  their  difficult 
language  and  taught  them  the  gospel.  He  died,  accord- 
ing to  a  later  writer,  in  the  year  202. 

The  Epistle  to  Diognetus. — There  is  one  writing 
which  dates  from  the  second  century  which  ought  to  be 
quoted  as  showing  the  influence  of  the  Greek  spirit  and 
of  Greek  philosophy  upon  the  thought  of  the  church. 
It  is  called  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  a  brief  composition 
which  has  had  a  precarious  history,  the  only  surviving 
manuscript  having  been  destroyed  at  Strasbourg  during 
the  Franco-Prussian  war.  Whoever  its  author,  though 
anonymous,  he  belongs  among  the  Fathers,  for  the 
spirit  of  his  Christianity  was  destined  to  have  a  wide- 
spread influence  upon  the  succeeding  centuries. 

"What  the  soul  is  in  the  body,  that  are  Christians 
in  the  world.  The  soul  is  spread  throughout  the 
body;  so  are  Christians  throughout  the  cities  of  the 
world.  The  soul  dwells  in  the  body,  but  is  not  a 
part  of  it;  Christians  dwell  in  the  world,  but  are  not 
of  it.  The  soul  is  invisible,  but  remains  in  the  body 
which  is  visible;  so  Christians  are  in  the  world,  but 
their  worship  remains  invisible.  The  flesh  hates 
the  soul,  and  wars  against  it;  so  the  world  hates 
the  Christians,  though  it  suffers  no  wrong,  because 
they  renounce  its  pleasures.  .  .  .  The  soul,  when 
severely  disciplined,  is  made  better;  so  Christians, 
when  punished  day  by  day,  gain  more  strength.  So 
grand  is  the  fortress  in  which  God  has  placed  them, 
it  is  not  right  for  them  to  decline  to  maintain  it." — 
Epistle  to  Diognetus  6. 

THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  THIRD  CENTURY 

When  we  turn  from  the  second  to  the  third  century 
we  come  upon  two  writers  of  very  different  spirit  than 


THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH    295 

those  we  have  just  described.  One  is  TertuUian,  the 
fiery  orator  of  North  Africa;  the  other,  Cyprian,  Bishop 
of  Carthage. 

Tertullian. — The  lawyer,  TertuUian,  was  the  son  of  a 
Roman  centurion,  well  educated  in  Greek  and  Latin; 
he  visited  Rome  and  returned  to  Carthage  as  a  teacher 
of  rhetoric.  Converted  in  195,  he  married  a  Christian 
wife,  was  ordained  a  priest,  and  began  at  once  to  com- 
bat paganism  in  the  strongest  language  of  which  he  was 
capable.  His  numerous  writings  are  apologetic  and 
practical  rather  than  doctrinal  in  character.  He  was  a 
rigorous  morahst  and  insisted  upon  Christians  upholding 
the  sternest  and  severest  of  standards.  He  even  became 
for  a  time  a  Montanist  and  adopted  the  extravagant 
asceticism  of  that  sect.  The  piercing  irony  of  his  attack 
upon  the  opponents  of  Christianity  may  be  seen  in  such 
a  passage  as  the  following: 

"Someone  says,  *A  good  man,  Caius  Seius,  only 
he  is  a  Christian.*  Or,  *I  am  astonished  that  such  a 
sensible  man  as  Lucius  Titius  has  suddenly  become 
a  Christian.'  No  one  reflects  whether  Caius  is  not 
good  and  Lucius  sensible  because  they  are  Chris- 
tians, or  Christians  because  good  and  sensible! 
...  A  father  who  used  to  be  patient  has  disowned 
a  son  who  now  obeys  him.  A  master  who  used  to 
be  lenient  has  banished  from  his  sight  his  now 
faithful  servant.  To  be  reformed  by  this  name  is 
to  commit  an  offense.  Virtue  is  less  esteemed  than 
hatred  of  the  Christians."— Tertullian,  Apology  3. 

Cyprian. — The  question  of  the  discipline  of  those 
who  fell  away  in  the  persecutions,  especially  during  the 
terrible  days  of  Decius,  was  a  most  vexing  one  in 
Carthage.  A  rich  layman  named  Fehcissimus,  and  a 
young   presbyter   named   Novatus,    insisted    that    the 


296    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

libellus  of  the  apostates  could  be  canceled  by  the  libellus 
pacis  of  a  confessor;  that  is,  one  who  had  "confessed'' 
or  borne  testimony  to  Christ  through  suffering  might 
write  on  a  card,  "Let  the  bearer  and  his  friends  receive 
communion,"  and  the  church  would  have  to  readmit 
them  without  any  more  ado.  Cyprian  and  the  clergy  of 
Rome  resisted  this  claim,  though  the  result  was  the 
growth  of  a  separate  sect,  the  "Novatians,"  which 
lasted  for  two  hundred  years. 

Cyprian  himself  was  beheaded  in  258,  on  the  charge 
of  being  "the  head  of  an  accursed  conspiracy,  the  enemy 
of  the  gods  of  Rome,  and  the  cause  and  ringleader  of 
the  most  iniquitous  crimes."  We  wonder  how  it  was 
possible  for  sane  men  to  execute  such  a  sentence  upon 
a  brave  old  man  even  then  confined  in  the  gardens  which 
he  had  himself  sold  long  before  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor,  and  who  begged  a  moment's  leave  as  he  was  led 
to  the  block  to  present  his  executioner  with  a  few  gold 
pieces  for  which  he  had  no  further  use! 

Clement  of  Alexandria. — ^We  turn  from  the  west  to 
the  east  once  more.  Succeeding  Pantaenus,  Clement 
became  the  head  of  the  Catechetical  School  at  Alexandria 
about  200  A.  D.  Referring  to  his  master  and  predeces- 
sor, Clement  called  him  "the  Sicilian  bee  sucking  the 
flowers  from  the  meadow  of  the  apostles  and  prophets." 
His  chief  writings  are  an  Exhortation  to  the  Greeks^  the 
Tutor,  and  a  collection  of  Miscellanies.  He  aimed  to 
combine  Greek  philosophy  and  Christian  doctrine,  to 
reconcile  faith  and  knowledge  and  show  their  inward 
connection.  He  looked  back  upon  the  history  of  the  world 
and  saw  a  gradual  unfolding  of  divine  wisdom,  to  the 
Greeks  in  the  guise  of  philosophy,  to  the  Jews  and 
Christians  as  revelation.  Christ,  the  divine  Word,  or 
Reason  (Logos),  of  God,  had  been  slowly  educating  the 


THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH    297 

world  to  reason  and  righteousness.    The  eternal  Son  of 
God  is  the  Tutor  and  Instructor  of  mankind. 

One  of  the  earliest  Christian  hymns  was  written  by 
Clement  and  has  come  down  to  us  in  the  original  Greek. 

"King  of  the  holy  ones, 
All-conquering  Word 
Of  the  highest  Father, 
Prefect  of  wisdom, 
Support  of  burdens, 
Rejoicing  eternally. 
Of  the  mortal  race 
Saviour,  Jesus! 

"Let  us  sing  together. 
Let  us  sing  simply 
The  mighty  Child; 
We,  the  choir  of  peace, 
The  Christ-begotten, 
The  sober  folk. 
Let  us  sing  a  psalm 
To  the  God  of  peace." 

— Clement,  Hj^mn  to  the  Word. 

Origen. — But  the  greatest  theologian  of  the  early 
church  has  yet  to  be  named.  He  was  Origen,  born  in 
185  as  the  son  of  native  Egyptian  parents,  educated  in 
the  school  of  Clement  and  appointed  his  successor  at  the 
early  age  of  eighteen.  His  writings  were  voluminous  in 
all  the  various  fields  of  theology,  though  his  chief 
interest  was  in  the  study  of  the  Bible.  During  his  exile 
in  Palestine  he  founded  a  school  at  Caesarea  which 
produced  several  famous  scholars  and  theologians  of  the 
following  generation.  He  was  a  master  of  both  Greek 
and  Hebrew,  and  prepared  a  monumental  work  known 
as  the  Hexapla,  or  sixfold  Old  Testament.  In  six  parallel 
columns  were  exhibited  the  Hebrew  text,  the  same  in 


298    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Greek  characters,  the  translation  of  Aquila,  that  of 
Symmachus,  the  Septuagint,  and  the  translation  of 
Theodotion.  Notes  and  marks  were  inserted  to  point 
out  the  variant  readings  of  these  versions.  So  enormous 
were  the  size  and  the  costliness  of  the  work  that  a  second 
complete  copy  of  it  was  never  made,  so  far  as  we  know, 
and  it  remained  the  chief  treasure  of  the  famous  Library 
of  Pamphilus  at  Caesarea,  probably  down  to  the  Arab 
conquest. 

Other  works  of  his  were  sermons,  or  Homilies,  books 
of  exegesis,  commentaries,  a  reply  to  Celsus'  True  Word 
Against  the  Christians,  and  a  great  theological  treatise 
known  as  First  Principles.  Origen  employed  a  staff  of 
skilled  stenographers,  and  dictated  his  works — six 
thousand  in  all,  according  to  Epiphanius  (which  may 
mean  that  many  rolls  or  tomes  of  papyrus  upon  which 
they  were  written). 

His  influence  upon  later  generations,  even  though  he 
was  charged  with  heresy  on  one  or  two  points,  is  almost 
incalculable.  He  was  easily  the  greatest  scholar  of  his 
times;  he  was  a  friend  of  philosophers  and  kings;  and 
he  died  a  martyr,  in  a  very  true  sense,  if  not  literally. 
In  the  Decian  persecution  of  250-251  he  was  imprisoned 
and  tortured  at  Tyre.  His  health  was  broken  by  suffer- 
ings, and  he  died  there  in  254. 

Even  the  greatest,  even  the  most  learned,  most 
virtuous,  most  holy,  as  well  as  the  humblest  and  poorest 
in  all  the  "motley  company  of  Christ,"  were  required  to 
prove  the  last  full  measure  of  their  devotion,  and  "die  to 
Hve"  in  the  fellowship  of  their  dying,  victorious  Lord. 

"Marching  with  thy  cross  their  banner, 
They  have  triumphed,  following 
Thee,  the  Captain  of  salvation, 
Thee,  their  Saviour  and  their  King. 


THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH    299 

Gladly,  Lord,  with  thee  they  suffered, 
Gladly,  Lord,  with  thee  they  died; 

And  by  death  to  life  immortal 
They  were  bom  and  glorified." 

— Bishop  Christopher  Wordsworth. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Choose  one  of  the  Christian  Fathers  described  in  this 

chapter  and  look  up  his  life  in  detail  in  the  encyclo- 
pedia.   Outline  it  in  your  notebook. 

2.  Make  the  suggested  list  of  trades  and  occupations  of 

the  early  Christians,  as  completely  as  you  can,  from 
the  New  Testament. 

3.  Who  were  the  Gnostics?    the  Montanists?    What  is 

asceticism? 

4.  Does  early  Christian  literatiire  bear  out  the  contrast 

between  the  Greek  and  Latin  spirit,  often  noted  in 
the  history  of  classical  literature?  See  your  ancient 
history,  chapter  or  section  on  Latin  literature. 

5.  What  was  the  Hexapla?    Look  it  up  further  in  the 

encyclopedia. 

6.  Look  up  and  read  the  whole  of  the  Epistle  to  Diogne- 

tus.    Jot  down  its  chief  points  in  your  notebook. 

7.  Many  of  the  Fathers  emphasized  the  value  of  Chris 

tianity  as  an  influence  for  good  in  the  Empire,  even 
outside  its  membership.    Is  this  true  to-day? 

8.  Christians  in  the  early  days  had  to  **coimt  the  cost" 

of  discipleship,  as  their  Master  foresaw  and  fore- 
warned them.  Do  you  think  we  should  be  better 
Christians  had  we  lived  in  those  days?  We  are  free 
from  persecution,  here  in  America  and  in  other 
enlightened  nations — a  fact  for  which  we  ought  to 
be  grateful.  However,  Christianity  still  involves 
some  sacrifice  and  service — can  you  describe  some 
of  "the  cost"  to-day? 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  LAST  PERSECUTION 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  there  were  seven  per- 
secutions of  the  early  church.  But  in  truth  there  was 
only  one.  In  the  long  conflict  of  over  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  there  were  a  few  considerable  intermissions, 
such  as  the  long  periods  of  peace  before  and  after  Decius 
in  the  third  century.  Nevertheless,  paganism  and 
Christianity  were  opposed  and  irreconcilable  forces.  No 
one  recognized  this  more  clearly  than  the  official  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Roman  government,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  defend  the  old  religion  with  its  rites  and  ceremonies; 
for  paganism  was  intrenched  within  the  most  powerful 
poUtical  and  military  system  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Coming  as  a  new  faith,  Christianity  was  forced  to 
challenge  the  authority  of  this  ancient  system,  and  was 
answered  with  all  the  energy  of  a  jealous  and  self- 
assured  state  reHgion.  Inch  by  inch  the  church  gained 
its  ground,  but  at  the  fearful  cost  of  inmmierable  mar- 
tyrdoms. It  purchased  its  victory  with  blood.  Though 
widespread  persecution  was  intermittent,  the  struggle 
was  continuous.  Like  a  forest  fire,  which  dies  down  for 
weeks  and  even  months  at  a  time,  buried  deep  in  the 
roots  of  the  trees  that  nourish  and  sustain  it,  then 
leaping  up  into  a  sea  of  flame  as  the  winds  fan  and 
scatter  it,  so  the  fires  of  hatred  and  oppression  burned 
in  the  heart  of  decaying  paganism.  The  "persecutions" 
were  only  the  conspicuous  outbursts  of  a  "persecution" 
which  began  as  soon  as  pagans  recognized  the  new 
religion  and  lasted  until  the  reign  of  Constantine. 

300 


THE  LAST  PERSECUTION  301 

The  life-and-death  struggle. — It  may  seem  almost 
monotonous,  to-day,  to  go  over  the  records  of  early 
Christianity.  They  are  chiefly  records  of  martyrdom. 
Their  variety  is  only  the  variety  of  different  forms  of 
cruelty  and  of  the  various  utterances  of  a  common 
testimony  to  Christ.  Many  facts  there  are  about  the 
early  church  which  we  should  like  to  know  but  which 
the  church's  historians  overlooked,  giving  us  instead  the 
stories  of  the  martyrs.  But  we  forget  that  these  were 
the  stories  which  they  learned,  and  were  handed  down 
until  put  in  writing  by  Eusebius  and  his  fellow  his- 
torians. And  we  forget  that  the  history  of  early  Chris- 
tianity is  the  history  of  a  life-and-death  struggle,  a 
world-wide  warfare,  which  Christ  and  his  faithful  were 
waging — and  winning — over  powers  which  seemed  at 
first  impregnable  in  the  enjo5anent  of  every  conceivable 
advantage  and  resource.  Its  annals  are,  therefore,  the 
annals  of  warfare.  Each  martyrdom  was  a  victory  of 
the  spirit,  won  on  "the  field  of  honor."  Unless  we 
remember  this,  and  discover  the  spirit  in  which  this 
conflict  was  waged,  we  shall  never  understand  the  early 
Christians  or  reaHze  how  their  victory  was  won.  That 
spirit  is  best  expressed  by  one  who  was  himself  a  martyr, 
Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage: 

"It  is  he  who  once  conquered  death  for  us  who 
conquers  it  always  in  us.  . '.  .  He  is  not  simply  the 
spectator  of  our  conflict.  It  is  he  who  wrestles  in  us ; 
he  wages  our  battles;  in  the  conflict  of  our  strife  it 
is  he  who  gives  the  crown  and  he  who  receives  it." 
— Cyprian,  Epistle  8. 

Paganism  might  enjoy  every  outward  advantage,  but 
it  could  boast  of  nothing  which  might  be  compared  with 
that  spirit.    The  weapons  of  the  Christian's  warfare 


302     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

were  not  material,  but  they  were  invincible.     Chris- 
tianity, if  it  persisted,  could  not  but  win! 

THE  LAST  EFFORT  OF  DEFEATED  PAGANISM 

Hence  the  mad  desperation  of  those  who  sought  to 
bolster  up  a  lost  cause,  the  fury  of  Decius  and  Diocletian 
and  their  confederates! 

The  long  peace  of  Gallienus. — We  have  already 
noted  the  revival  of  persecution  during  the  brief  reign 
for  two  and  a  half  years  of  the  Emperor  Decius.  This  had 
broken  the  long-established  peace;  but  the  gods  of  Rome, 
instead  of  blessing  their  advocates  and  rewarding  the 
zeal  of  Decius,  did  nothing  to  defend  the  frontiers  of 
the  empire.  Antioch,  Tarsus,  Cappadocia  were  captured 
by  the  Parthians.  Gallienus,  the  new  emperor  (260- 
268),  saw  the  uselessness  of  murdering  innocent  bishops 
and  issued  an  edict  which  restored  some  of  their  rights 
to  the  Christian  clergy.  In  certain  districts  the  news 
was  too  good  to  be  believed — as  in  Egypt,  where  the 
patriarch  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  wrote  to  inquire  if 
liberty  was  really  restored.  The  "religious  places"  of 
the  Christians  were  opened  once  more;  their  cemeteries 
were  restored;  and  the  effect  of  this  toleration  was 
practicaUy  the  recognition  of  the  Christian  Church  as 
a  legitimate  body,  entitled  both  to  exist  and  to  hold 
property. 

Unfortunately,  Gallienus  was  not  a  powerful  ruler, 
and  his  brief  reign  was  succeeded  by  those  of  emperors 
more  narrowly  devoted  to  paganism  and  more  distracted 
by  the  declining  power  of  the  empire. 

The  persecution  under  Diocletian. — In  the  year 
284  Diocletian,  whose  father  and  mother  were  slaves  and 
who  had  risen  to  the  command  of  the  bodyguard  of  the 
Emperor  Numerian,  was  chosen  by  the  army  as  his 


THE  LAST  PERSECUTION  303 

successor.  He  was  a  courageous  and  clever  ruler,  and 
under  the  guise  of  restoring  the  repubhc  and  making  its 
government  more  stable  and  democratic  he  transformed 
it  into  an  absolute  monarchy.  For  the  first  eighteen 
years  of  his  reign  the  Christians  were  left  undisturbed. 
Eusebius,  the  historian,  says  that  the  church  grew 
worldly  and  satisfied  in  those  years,  the  clergy  ambitious, 
and  the  laity  careless  and  lax.  Some  of  the  bishops  even 
shared  the  civil  government,  and  many  Christians  were 
to  be  found  in  the  army,  the  court,  and  the  adminis- 
trative ofiices.  But  the  church  could  not  have  been  very 
worldly  or  it  would  never  have  faced  the  issue  as  it  did 
a  few  years  later. 

Gradually  Diocletian  came  to  believe  that  in  order 
to  consoHdate  the  empire  and  insure  the  undivided 
loyalty  of  all  its  component  peoples,  even  to  the  very 
frontiers,  it  was  necessary  to  establish  one  official 
religion.  This  would  provide  a  bond  of  reKgious  union 
throughout  the  empire  whose  highest  sanction  would  be 
the  divinity  of  the  emperors  at  its  head.  In  297  Galerius, 
whom  Diocletian  had  chosen  as  one  of  his  colleagues, 
gained  a  great  victory  over  the  Persians  and  thus  made 
secure  the  eastern  frontier.  This  freed  the  emperors  to 
devote  their  energies  to  internal  affairs  and  apparently 
proved  the  reviving  favor  of  the  old  gods,  which  Decius 
had  lost. 

The  signal  for  persecution  was  given  five  years  later 
when  Diocletian  and  his  colleagues  were  celebrating  a 
public  triumph  in  honor  of  their  glorious  reign.  Some 
Christians  who  were  present  at  the  taking  of  the  auspices 
were  seen  making  the  sign  of  the  cross.  The  auspices 
were  not  propitious,  and  their  failure  was  attributed  to 
the  presence  of  the  Christians.  At  once  it  was  decided 
to  clear  the  court  and  the  army  of  these  disturbers.    All 


304    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

civil  and  military  officers  were  ordered  either  to  sacrifice 
or  resign  their  posts. 

The  four  edicts. — ^The  next  step,  in  February,  303, 
was  the  destruction  of  the  magnificent  church  at 
Nicomedia,  just  across  the  sea  of  Marmora  from 
Byzantium.  Immediately  afterward  were  issued  a  series 
of  edicts,  the  first  ordering  the  destruction  of  Christian 
churches  and  sacred  books,  the  loss  of  all  civil  rights 
and  official  positions  by  Christians,  and  the  enslavement 
of  any  Christians  at  court  who  should  obstinately  refuse 
to  give  up  their  faith.  Diocletian  hoped  the  edict  might 
be  enforced  quietly  and  without  bloodshed;  but  he  was 
sadly  mistaken.  The  edict  was  torn  down  as  soon  as  it 
was  posted  in  Nicomedia — an  offense  for  which  the 
culprit  was  slowly  roasted  to  death.  In  retahation  for 
burning  the  church  the  palace  was  set  on  fire  twice 
within  a  fortnight.  Diocletian  became  alarmed  at  the 
rebeUion  his  tyranny  had  inspired,  and  ordered  several 
Christians  at  court  to  be  executed  with  hideous  tortures. 
In  April  he  issued  his  second  edict,  directing  the  arrest 
of  aU  Christian  clergy.  The  prisons  were  soon  crowded 
with  bishops,  presbyters,  deacons,  and  readers.  Later  in 
the  year  he  issued  the  third  edict,  ordering  the 
magistrates  to  "use  every  effort"  to  compel  the  clergy 
to  sacrifice.  The  following  March  the  fourth  edict 
commanded  all  Christians  everywhere  to  offer  Hbations 
and  sacrifices  to  the  gods. 

The  horrors  of  the  persecution  are  almost  beyond 
imagining.  It  was  the  last  effort  of  defeated  paganism 
to  crush  out  by  brute  force  an  adversary  whose  strength 
was  every  day  growing  greater  and  which  was  destined, 
if  this  last  effort  failed,  to  triumph  completely  before 
long.  What  military  absolutism  could  not  effect  directly 
was  undertaken  indirectly.    In  308  it  was  ordered  to 


THE  LAST  PERSECUTION  305 

sprinkle  all  food  for  sale  in  the  markets  with  wine  or 
water  which  had  been  offered  to  the  gods,  thus  giving 
the  Christians  the  alternative  of  eating  food  consecrated 
to  idolatry — which  they  had  refused  to  do  since  the  days 
of  Paul  and  the  first  Christians  in  Corinth — or  of 
starving  to  death.    But  even  this  measure  failed. 

The  end  of  the  persecution. — ^The  persecution  ended 
much  sooner  in  the  west  than  in  the  east.  By  305  the 
two  western  emperors,  Constantine  and  Maxentius,  had 
come  into  power;  the  former  was  an  open  friend  of 
Christianity  and  the  latter  was  anxious  to  increase  his 
popularity  by  a  reputation  for  mildness.  In  the  east 
Diocletian  himself  had  retired  even  before  the  publica- 
tion of  the  fourth  edict,  and  was  raising  cabbages  for  a 
pastime  on  his  native  Dalmatian  farm.  His  colleague 
and  successor,  Galerius,  was  stricken  with  a  dreadful 
disease,  and  before  he  died  he  came  to  realize  the  futility 
of  the  persecution.  On  April  30,  311,  he  issued  the  Edict 
of  Toleration,  permitting  the  Christians  "freely  to 
profess  then:  private  opinions,  and  hold  their  assemblies 
without  fear  of  molestation."  It  may  be  that  his  own 
sufferings  from  disease  had  taught  him  pity,  or  were 
proof  to  him  of  the  anger  of  God,  for  he  added,  "We 
hope  that  our  indulgence  will  induce  the  Christians  to 
pray  to  their  God  for  our  preservation  and  prosperity, 
for  their  own,  and  for  that  of  the  RepubHc." 

For  two  years,  however,  after  Galerius'  death,  his 
nephew  Maximinus  continued  the  persecution.  Among 
the  martyrs  were  the  great  scholars  and  theologians, 
Peter  of  Alexandria,  Lucian  of  Antioch  and  Methodius 
of  Olympus.  In  order  to  bring  Christianity  into  wide- 
spread contempt,  there  was  produced  a  scurrilous 
forgery  called  the  Acts  of  Pilate,  filled  with  slanders 
about  the  death  of  Christ,  which  was  ordered  to  be  used 


3o6     THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

as  a  reading  book  in  the  public  schools.  It  was  not 
till  the  defeat  of  Maximinus  in  313  by  Licinius,  who 
was  now  Constantine's  colleague,  that  the  Christians 
of  the  east  were  actually  free  to  profess  their  religion. 

THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  EVE  OF  VICTORY 

At  last  the  long  struggle  had  ended.  Though  later 
efforts  might  be  made  to  revive  paganism  as  the  im- 
perial religion,  they  were  belated  and  foredoomed  to 
failure.  Christianity  had  won,  fairly  and  at  immense 
cost,  in  a  struggle  that  lasted  more  than  eight  genera- 
tions, against  overwhelming  odds  at  the  start;  and  it 
had  won  not  by  strokes  of  statecraft,  not  by  intrigue 
and  diplomacy,  but  by  the  slow,  painful  process  of 
individual  conversion  and  individual  testimony. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  the  church 
probably  numbered  weU  over  a  third,  if  not  actually  a 
majority,  of  the  population  of  the  empire.  Its  growth 
had  been  slow  but  steady.  There  was  in  it  a  power 
and  an  appeal  against  which  paganism  could  only  in- 
voke the  inertia  of  immemorial  custom  and  habit,  the 
"ancient  use,"  and  the  apparent,  easy-going  prosperity 
of  a  world  devoted,  while  its  real  strength  waned,  to 
creeds  which  had  long  been  outworn.  But  with  the 
gradual  decHne  of  the  empire,  with  the  lessening  of  its 
population  through  famine,  pestilence,  poverty,  and 
continual  war,  and  in  face  of  the  steadfast  refusal  of 
Christians  to  compromise  their  faith,  doubts  began  to 
gather  (especially  in  the  third  century)  about  the  justice 
or  usefulness — or  success — of  persecution.  Men  woke 
up  and  discovered,  some  time  between  the  reign  of 
Marcus  Aurelius  and  Decius,  that  the  empire  was  being 
honeycombed  and  undermined  by  Christianity.  To  the 
average  pagan  this  was  perhaps  no  occasion  for  alarm, 


THE  LAST  PERSECUTION  307 

but  to  the  politically  or  financially  interested  pagan,  to 
the  priest  of  Jupiter  or  Ceres,  the  soothsayer  or  haruspex, 
the  governor  or  magistrate,  the  fact  was  ominous  and 
there  was  nothing  to  do,  if  the  old  religion  was  to  be 
saved,  but  to  stamp  out  the  new  faith  at  any  cost.  It 
was  in  a  very  real  sense  true,  therefore,  that  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  purchased  the  victory  and  peace  of  the 
church.  They  proved  that  Christianity  was  more  than 
one  among  many  cults,  which  a  man  might  dabble  in 
when  fashionable  or  forsake  when  the  government  pro- 
nounced it  unsafe.  If  the  martyrs,  had  refused  to  die, 
if  they  had  yielded  up  their  beliefs,  their  Scriptures, 
their  freedom  of  conscience  in  an  easy  compromise  with 
heathenism,  there  might  not  have  been  in  our  days  a 
Christian  Church,  a  New  Testament,  or  the  religious 
liberty  which  we  prize  so  highly. 

The  extent  of  Christianity. — A  glance  at  the  map 
will  show  that  Christianity  at  the  end  of  the  third 
century  covered  almost  the  whole  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
And  if  the  records  of  the  persecutions,  the  writings  of 
the  Fathers  and  the  other  documents  which  have  come 
down  to  us  from  that  period  be  read,  and  the  regions 
and  cities  noted  which  they  most  frequently  mention, 
it  will  appear  that  Christianity  had  remained  true  to 
its  principle  of  expansion  at  the  very  beginning:  it 
spread  by  cities  and  into  thickly  populated  districts.  It 
was  not  a  country-reHgion,  but  urban,  in  those  days. 
The  pagans  were  the  "rustics" — pagani — and  heathenism 
survived  in  rural  districts  long  after  the  cities  were 
Christian. 

Christianity  in  the  east. — ^The  church  began  its 
career  in  the  east,  a  fact  which  the  Fathers  emphasized 
by  comparing  it  to  the  rising  of  the  sun.  Its  first  con- 
quests outside  Palestine  were  in  the  neighboring  coun- 


3o8    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

tries  along  the  Mediterranean  coast.  By  the  fourth 
century,  some  of  these  were  thoroughly  penetrated  by 
the  gospel.  The  church  in  Asia  Minor  probably  num- 
bered upward  of  half,  perhaps  more  than  half  the 
population.  Armenia  was  evangelized  early  in  the 
second  century,  and  was  the  first  to  accept  Christianity 
as  a  nation.  Syria  and  Egypt,  C)^rus,  Libya,  Greece, 
Macedonia  and  Thrace  were  represented  by  a  very 
strong  minority  of  Christians.  Farther  east,  in  Meso- 
potamia and  Persia,  and  even  in  Lidia;  in  Arabia  and 
Palestine,  and  along  the  east  and  west  and  even  the 
north  coasts  of  the  Euxine  sea,  there  were  scattered 
groups  of  Christians.  In  Palestine  the  church  was  never 
strong;  for  the  final  breach  between  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians had  practically  closed  the  gates  against  any 
further  advance  of  Christianity  within  the  borders  of 
Judaism. 

Christianity  in  the  west. — Li  the  west,  Rome  and 
southern  Italy,  Sicily,  Carthage  and  its  suburbs  and  the 
province  of  Africa  generally,  Niunidia,  Mauretania,  and 
the  Rhone  vaUey  were  strong  centers  of  Christian  life. 
These  include,  of  course,  the  most  populous  regions  in 
the  west.  Northern  Italy,  Moesia,  lUyricum,  Pannonia, 
Gaul,  Spain,  Belgium,  Germany,  and  the  British  Isles 
had  some  Christians,  though  they  did  not  form  the  high 
percentage  found  in  the  east.  In  314  a  council  was  held 
at  Aries  in  Gaul,  attended  by  thirty-three  bishops, 
probably  chiefly  from  the  western  churches.  Among 
these  were  three  from  England — the  bishops  of  London, 
York  and  Caerleon,  where  there  were  martyrs  under 
Diocletian— among  them  Saint  Alban,  the  proto-martyr 
of  Britain. 

What  impresses  us  most  strongly  in  the  early  history 
of  the  church  is  the  suddenness  of  its  spread.   Jesus  was 


THE  LAST  PERSECUTION  309 

crucified  in  the  year  29,  unknown  to  the  world,  in  a 
provincial  capital  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  empire. 
Within  quarter  of  a  century  his  religion  had  won  fol- 
lowers in  the  very  capital  of  the  empire,  Rome  itself, 
and  "they  of  Caesar's  household"  send  greetings  to 
fellow-Christians  hundreds  of  miles  away.  The  earhest 
Christian  epitaph  in  Rome  dates  from  the  year  71, 
marking  the  grave  of  one  who  had  lived  and  died  a 
believer. 

After  this  swift  initial  expansion,  which  persecution 
rather  aided  than  hindered,  we  might  expect  a  decline 
of  enthusiasm  and  a  period  of  stagnation  or  subsidence. 
So  far  as  we  know,  no  such  reaction  ever  took  place. 
Its  rapid  extensive  growth  was  followed  by  two  cen- 
turies of  steady,  intensive  development.  On  the  eve  of 
its  final  triumph  it  had  permeated  every  class  and  order 
of  Graeco-Roman  society,  had  penetrated  every  part  of 
the  western  world — and  beyond — and  was  about  to 
take  over  the  whole  of  society  and  begin  the  formal  task 
of  Christianizing  the  laws  and  institutions  and  customs 
of  men.  If  the  Christians  were  not  actually  in  a  ma- 
jority at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  they  were 
very  nearly,  and  were  soon  actually  to  be;  and  they 
certainly  possessed  a  moral  superiority  of  influence  and 
intelligence  which  was  soon  to  be  wielded  for  the  good 
of  mankind. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Can  you  recall  any  passages  in  the  New  Testament 

which  reflect  a  similar  spirit  or  express  a  similar 
thought  to  the  quotation  from  Cyprian's  epistle 
given  above? 

2.  Show  how  the  Christian  victory  was  won  "by  blood." 

What  might  have  taken  place  if  the  mart)^:^  had 
declined  to  siiffer  and  compromised  with  paganism? 


310    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

3.  Describe  the  edicts  of  Diocletian.     What  were  they 

aimed  to  accomplish?    Why  did  they  fail? 

4.  Compare  the  effect  of  the  edict  of  308  with  the  situa- 

tion at  Corinth  to  which  reference  is  made. 

5.  Trace  on  a  map  the  expansion  of  early  Christianity, 

noting  partictdarly  its  growth  in  thickly  populated 
regions. 

6.  How  does  the  spirit  of  the  church  to-day,  as  you  know 

it,  compare  with  the  martyr  spirit  of  the  early 
church?  Can  you  name  any  modem  martyrs  for 
Christ?  Would  Christianity  mean  more  to  us  if 
we  had  to  risk  all  to  follow  Christ? 

7.  Who   were    Decius,    Gallienus,    Diocletian,    Galerius, 

Constantine?  Read  over  the  account  of  the  period, 
250-313  A.  D.,  in  your  ancient  history. 

8.  Christians  were  only  waiting  imtil  they  were  in  the 

majority,  or  possessed  sufficient  moral  influence,  to 
change  the  customs  and  habits  of  the  world,  making 
it  more  like  the  kingdom  of  God.  Is  our  world  as 
Christian  as  it  ought  to  be,  considering  the  Christian 
majority  of  citizens?  Is  our  neighborhood,  our  circle 
of  friends,  our  playgroimd  and  school  Christian  in 
spirit  or  only  in  name  ?  Why  do  Christians  sometimes 
neglect  to  make  their  voices  heard  or  their  votes 
coimt? — It  is  one  of  the  sad  features  of  American 
politics,  social  life,  and  industry. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

*'BY  THIS  SIGN  CONQUER" 

CoNSTANTiNE  the  Great  was  born  about  274  at  Nish 
in  Serbia,  still  an  important  city  in  the  Balkans.  As  a 
boy  he  was  sent  to  the  court  of  Diocletian  as  a  hostage 
for  the  fidehty  of  his  father,  Constantius  Chlorus.  In 
296  he  was  taken  by  the  Emperor  on  a  mihtary  expedi- 
tion, and  he  doubtless  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  out- 
break of  Diocletian's  terrible  persecution. 

THE  CAREER  OF  CONSTANTINE 

When  Diocletian  died  Constantine  avoided  the  pit- 
falls of  court  intrigue  and  remained  either  with  Galerius 
or  with  his  father.  The  latter  was  a  man  with  a  high 
sense  of  honor,  who  favored  the  Christians  and  guar- 
anteed them  personal  safety  even  while  compelled  to 
persecute  them  and  destroy  their  churches.  Though  not 
himself  a  Christian  he  was  a  believer  in  one  supreme 
God.  Constantine  inherited  his  father's  faith,  his  sense 
of  honor,  and  his  tolerance  of  Christianity. 

Constantine  named  Caesar. — Constantius  Chlorus 
died  at  York  in  306,  and  immediately  his  soldiers  placed 
themselves  under  the  command  of  his  son.  Accepting 
the  fait  accompli,  Galerius  gave  the  new  general  the 
title  of  Caesar,  and  appointed  Severus  as  his  cornier  in 
the  west.  Severus  soon  after  committed  suicide,  unable 
to  put  down  the  revolt  of  Maxentius;  in  his  place 
Galerius  now  appointed  Licinius.  Four  years  later,  in 
311,  Galerius  issued  the  Edict  of  Toleration,  already 

311 


312    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

described,  in  his  own  name  and  the  names  of  Constan- 
tine  and  Licinius. 

The  edict  of  Milan. — ^The  unrest  and  weakness  of  the 
empire  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  there  were  now, 
for  the  first  and  last  time,  six  emperors  in  power.  Two 
were  in  revolt:  Maximinus,  the  nephew  of  Galerius  and 
champion  of  paganism,  who  aspired  to  rule  alone  the 
whole  eastern  half  of  the  empire,  and  the  rebel  Max- 
entius,  who  had  seized  the  city  of  Rome  and  laid  claim 
to  sole  authority  in  the  west.  Licinius  set  out  to  defeat 
the  former  and  Constantine  the  latter.  Crossing  the 
Alps  in  312,  Constantine  defeated  Maxentius  at  the 
Milvian  Bridge  near  Rome.  Shortly  after,  in  313, 
Constantine  and  Licinius  met  at  Milan  and  issued  the 
solemn  edict  of  toleration  which  has  taken  its  name 
from  the  city  where  they  conferred.  It  provided  that 
all  civil  and  reHgious  rights  taken  from  the  Christians 
by  Diocletian  should  be  restored;  no  interference  should 
be  offered  the  observance  of  their  religion;  their  lands 
and  buildings  were  to  be  returned.  The  tone  of  the  edict 
is  one  of  piety,  of  recognition  of  the  divine  justice,  and 
a  desire  to  propitiate  for  the  crimes  perpetrated  in  the 
persecution.  It  raised  Christianity  from  a  position  of 
bare  toleration  (which  had  been  granted  by  Galerius  in 
311)  to  one  of  equahty  with  the  established  pagan 
religion.  That  same  year,  313,  Maxim inus  was  defeated 
near  Hadrianople;  but  even  before  he  died  in  defeat, 
not  waiting  for  the  pubHcation  of  the  edict  of  Milan  by 
his  conqueror  Licinius,  he  had  issued  a  decree  of  his 
own  making  Christianity  a  recognized  religion  through- 
out the  empire. 

Constantine  sole  emperor. — Constantine  and  Li- 
cinius were  now  coregents  of  the  whole  empire,  and 
Christianity  was  at  last  a  fully  recognized  religio  licita. 


"BY  THIS  SIGN  CONQUER"  313 

Neither  of  the  emperors,  however,  was  a  professed 
Christian.  Constantine  leaned  strongly  in  that  direc- 
tion, but  Licinius  leaned  almost  as  strongly  toward  the 
opposite.  But  they  both  recognized  the  futility  of 
persecution  and  the  folly  of  attempting  to  crush  out  the 
religion  of  a  vast  minority  (if  not  majority)  of  their 
subjects — especially  a  religion  of  such  age  and  vitality, 
harmlessness  and  high  character  as  Christianity. 

But  Constantine  went  further  in  his  show  of  favor 
to  the  Christians.  He  became  enrolled  as  a  catechumen, 
or  candidate  for  baptism,  and  received  instruction  from 
Christian  bishops.  This  alienated  Licinius,  and  thinking 
to  make  capital  of  a  reaction  in  favor  of  paganism,  he 
conspired  against  his  fellow  emperor.  War  resulted,  and 
Licinius  was  left  with  only  Thrace,  Asia  Minor,  Syria 
and  Egypt;  Constantine  held  the  rest  of  the  empire. 

Ten  years  later,  civil  war  was  again  declared.  Licinius 
began  by  persecuting  the  Christians,  banishing  his 
Christian  court  officials  and  soldiers  in  the  army,  and 
prohibiting  public  worship.  Martyrs  again  came  for- 
ward in  great  numbers.  By  now  Constantine  had  made 
common  cause  with  Christianity  and  took  as  his  standard 
the  labarum,  a  flag  bearing  the  monogram  of  Christ  in 
Greek;  bishops  accompanied  his  army,  and  a  Christian 
field-chapel  was  moved  along  with  his  headquarters. 
Licinius  was  completely  defeated,  and  Christianity  be- 
came henceforth  universally  secure  imder  the  sole 
imperial  headship  of  Constantine. 

THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  CROSS 

There  is  a  story  told  by  two  Christian  writers, 
Eusebius  and  Lactantius,  according  to  which  Constan- 
tine was  led  to  favor  Christianity  through  a  vision 
which  he  saw  at  the  Milvian  Bridge.    As  his  army  was 


314    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

nearing  the  scene  of  battle,  the  Emperor  gazed  at  the 
setting  sun  and  saw  plainly  above  it  in  the  sky  a  shining 
cross  with  the  words, 

m  HOC  SIGNO  vmcES 

— "By  This  Sign  Conquer."  Afterward  he  had  a  vision 
of  Christ  directing  him  to  place  this  sign  upon  his 
banners. 

The  stories  may  weU  be  true.  A  young  general  face 
to  face  with  his  first  crucial  battle,  and  already  bearing 
some  of  the  responsibilities  and  weighing  some  of  the 
problems  of  a  world-ruler,  might  well  have  been  think- 
ing of  Christ  and  Christianity  and  the  persecution  still 
raging  under  Maximinus.  What  would  he  do  about 
Christianity  when  his  time  came  to  decide?  He  was 
already  pledged,  as  one  of  the  signers  of  Galerius'  decree, 
to  tolerate  the  church.  But  what  if  Christ  really  was 
God,  and  Christianity  the  one  true  faith? — as  his  friend, 
Hosius,  the  bishop  of  Cordova,  said.  What  if  Chris- 
tianity were  made  the  one  official  universal  religion,  and 
the  standards  of  the  legions  bore  the  symbols  of  Christ 
and  the  church?  Such  questions  may  have  filled  his 
mind  as  the  troops  drew  near  to  battle,  that  late  after- 
noon on  the  outskirts  of  Rome.  In  antiquity,  men 
were  not  surprised  to  discover  the  solution  of  their 
problems  in  a  vision. 

At  least,  from  then  on  Constantine's  victories  were 
successive  stages  in  the  triumph  of  the  cross.  Paganism 
was  still  aUve,  and  had  many  advocates,  learned  and 
unlearned.  One  of  them,  the  Emperor  Julian,  "the 
Apostate,"  who  gave  up  Christianity  and  tried  to 
restore  polytheism,  gave  up  the  attempt  at  last  and 
died  in  battle  with  the  words  (according  to  legend), 
"Galilaean,  thou  hast  conquered!"    That  was  fifty  years 


"BY  THIS  SIGN   CONQUER"  315 

later.  Christ  had  already  conquered,  half  a  century  be- 
fore, only  Julian  and  some  others  failed  to  recognize  it. 

The  new  capital. — However,  there  were  signs  of  the 
Christian  victory  almost  as  soon  as  it  was  won.  After 
the  final  defeat  of  Licinius  in  323,  Constantine  trans- 
ferred his  capital,  now  the  capital  of  the  whole  realm, 
from  Rome  to  Constantinople.  That  is,  a  new  city  was 
built  at  Byzantium  and  named — perhaps  by  himself — 
for  the  first  Christian  emperor.  A  beautiful  Christian 
church  was  built,  known  as  the  Sancta  Sophia,  or  Church 
of  the  Divine  Wisdom.  The  name  survives  to  this  day, 
for  Constantine's  church,  destroyed  by  fire,  was  rebuilt 
in  the  sixth  century  by  the  Emperor  Justinian,  and  still 
stands,  though  used  by  the  Turks  as  a  mosque. 

Freedom  of  worship. — Here,  and  in  the  other  great 
churches  of  the  East  which  Constantine  built  or  adorned, 
were  now  sung  freely  the  hymns  which  Pluiy's  Chris- 
tians had  sung  in  secret  before  dawn.  Here  were  now 
celebrated  in  broad  daylight  the  Christian  mysteries, 
here  were  said  and  sung  the  solemn,  awe-inspiring 
liturgies,  here  were  dispensed  the  churches  sacraments, 
here  at  last  men  worshiped  God  without  fear  of  the 
persecutor  and  tormentor,  praising  and  blessing  him  for 
the  peace  which  had  been  granted  to  his  servants.  One 
of  those  old  Greek  hymns  is  stUl  used  in  many  churches, 
known  by  the  words  of  its  first  line  in  Latin,  ^^ Gloria  in 
ExcelsisJ' 

"Glory  be  to  God  on  high,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men.  We  praise  thee,  we  bless 
thee,  we  worship  thee,  we  glorify  thee,  we  give 
thanks  to  thee  for  thy  great  glory,  O  Lord  God, 
heavenly  King,  God  the  Father  Almighty. 

"O  Lord,  the  only-begotten  Son,  Jesus  Christ;  O 
Lord  God,  Lamb  of  God,  Son  of  the  Father,  that 


3i6    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have  mercy  upon 
us.  Thou  that  takest  away  the  sms  of  the  world, 
receive  our  prayer.  Thou  that  sittest  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

"For  thou  only  art  holy;  thou  only  art  the  Lord; 
thou  only,  O  Christ,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  art  most 
high  in  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.    Amen." 

This  ancient  hymn  is  the  Eastern    parallel,  in  a  sense, 
of  the  majestic  hymn  of  the  Western  church,  the  Latin 

The  Council  of  Nicaea. — Soon  began  to  be  held  the 
famous  oecumenical  (or  "universar')  councils  of  the 
church,  the  first  of  which  was  held  in  325  at  Nicaea  in 
Bithynia,  not  far  from  the  Emperor's  new  capital.  Over 
three  hundred  bishops  were  present,  from  all  parts  of 
the  Christian  Church — east  and  west.  The  leading 
achievement  of  the  council  was  the  creed  still  known 
(though  subsequently  modified)  as  the  "Nicene  Creed.'' 
It  sets  forth  the  faith  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  in  more 
expanded  and  definite  form,  in  order  to  correct  the 
erroneous  interpretation  of  those  who  looked  upon 
Christ  as  "merely  a  man,"  or  ''the  chief  of  the  angels," 
or  something  less  than  the  Son  of  God,  It  is  a  classic 
statement  of  the  church's  faith  in  Christ. 

"We  beUeve  m  one  God  the  Father  almighty, 
maker  of  heaven  and  earth  and  of  all  things  visible 
and  invisible. 

"And  m  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God;  begotten  of  his  Father  before  all  worlds; 
God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very  God; 
begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one  substance  with 
the  Father;  by  whom  all  things  were  made;  who  for 
us  men  and  for  our  salvation  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  was  incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the 


''BY  THIS  SIGN  CONQUER"  317 

virgin  Mary,  and  was  made  man;  and  was  crucified 
also  for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate;  he  suffered  and 
was  buried;  and  the  third  day  he  rose  again,  ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptures;  and  ascended  into  heaven, 
and  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father;  and  he 
shall  come  again,  with  glory,  to  judge  both  the 
quick  and  the  dead;  whose  kingdom  shall  have  no 
end. 

"And  we  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord, 
and  Giver  of  Life,  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son;  who  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  to- 
gether is  worshiped  and  glorified;  who  spake  by  the 
prophets. 

"And  we  believe  one  catholic  and  apostolic  cluirdi; 
we  acknowledge  one  baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins;  and  we  look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come.    Amen." 

Reform  of  laws  and  customs. — Brilliant  as  were 
these  outward  signs  of  the  victory  of  the  church,  there 
were  still  others,  destined  to  be  equally  far-reaching. 
Christianity  showed  its  real  spirit  in  these  ways  as  mudi 
as  in  the  building  of  churches,  the  chanting  of  hymns 
and  the  writing  of  creeds.  We  ought  to  remember  these 
also,  for  persons  sometimes  overlook  them  and  say  that 
the  church  failed  to  take  fuU  advantage  of  its  success. 

Almost  the  first  token  of  the  new  order  was  the 
abolition  of  the  penalty  of  crucifixion.  The  Emperor 
himself  endeavored  to  discourage  the  exposure  of 
infants — a  practice  older  than  civilization  in  the  Near 
East,  and  one  which  even  the  philosophers  of  Greece 
had  said  nothing  to  discourage.  He  directed  poor  parents 
to  bring  their  children  to  the  magistrate  and  receive 
aid  for  their  bringing-up.  He  established  the  most 
stringent   laws   against    unchastity.     He   forbade   the 


3i8    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

branding  of  criminals  in  the  face — since  the  face  of  man 
is  "made  after  the  likeness  of  the  heavenly  beauty." 
Legal  business  was  forbidden  on  Sundays.  A  law  was 
made  permitting  the  freeing  of  slaves  at  services  of  the 
church.    Gladiatorial  shows  were  forbidden. 

The  world  was  not  remade  overnight  when  Constan- 
tine  set  the  labarum  at  the  head  of  his  columns.  But  a 
wonderful  new  step  was  taken  in  the  direction  of  a 
Christian  civilization,  a  society  ruled  by  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  when  the  first  Christian  emperor  set  free  the 
church  from  its  bonds  and  proceeded  to  correct  some  of 
the  age-long  abuses  of  justice.  It  was  not  the  full  noon; 
it  was  only  the  dawn  of  the  new  day;  but  that  glowing 
dawn  held  the  promise  of  still  greater  things  yet  to  be 
achieved  in  the  name  and  led  by  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
To  their  achievement — since  even  to-day  the  full 
promise  of  Christianjity  has  not  been  attained — ^we  are 
called  to  labor  as  servants  of  the  same  Lord  whom  the 
early  Christians  worshiped,  and  for  whom  great  num- 
bers of  them  laid  down  their  lives. 

STUDY  TOPICS 

1.  Read  over  the  account  of  Constantine's  career  in  your 

ancient  history  or  in  the  encyclopedia.     Make  an 
outline  of  it  in  your  notebook. 

2.  WherewasNish?    Hadrianople?    The  Milvian  Bridge ? 

Cordova?     Byzantium?     Nicsea?     Locate  them  on 
the  map. 

3.  Define  labarum;  fait  accompli  (see  Glossary  of  Foreign 

Phrases  at  the  back  of  the  dictionary);  religio  licita 
(above,  in  this  volume) ;  catechumen;  oecumenical. 

4.  Find  a  copy  of  the  Te  Deum  in  a  hymnal  or  prayer 

book  and  compare  it  with  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis. 
Note  that  both  are  addressed  to  the  Holy  Trinity, 


"BY  THIS  SIGN  CONQUER"  319 

both  make  use  of  scriptural  language  (point  it  out) ; 
but  the  latter  is  briefer  and  more  primitive  than 
the  former. 

5.  Compare  the  Apostles'  and  Nicene  Creeds.    Copy  the 

latter  in  your  notebook,  and  underhne  the  words 
and  phrases  in  it  taken  from  the  earlier  formula. 
The  remainder  represents  the  additions  made  at 
Nicaea  or  later.    Why  were  these  m.ade? 

6.  Make  a  list  of  the  changes  effected  by  the  triimiph  of 

Christianity. 

7.  What  were  the  forces  which  led  to  that  victory  in  the 

course  of  almost  three  hundred  years?  Write  down 
all  those  you  can  think  of. 

8.  Note  briefly  some  of  the  things  you  have  learned  in 

this  course.  Are  there  any  lessons  that  you  think 
will  help  you  in  your  own  life  as  a  Christian?  Are 
there  any  that  give  you  a  larger  view  of  the  purpose 
and  mission  of  the  Christian  Church?  Why  is  it 
worth  while  to  study  the  early  days  of  Chris- 
tianity ? 


O  ALMIGHTY  GOD,  who  hast  knit  together 
thine  elect  in  one  communion  and  fellowship, 
in  the  mystical  body  of  thy  Son  Christ  our  Lord; 
Grant  us  grace  so  to  follow  thy  blessed  saints  in  all 
virtuous  and  godly  living,  that  we  may  come  to  those 
unspeakable  joys  which  thou  hast  prepared  for  them 
that  unfeignedly  love  thee;  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen. 


COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY   L^  sS 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


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